The Blood of the Westendra
by Shanntarra
Summary: An old friend contacts the Doctor and Rose to investigate some odd deaths and people going mad in the area.  What happens when the darkness begins to effect Rose and the Doctor? Set in "The Going Forward" universe 11 years after Bad Wolf bay.
1. Trouble Brewing

Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Dr Who. I am just someone who keeps getting hit by plot bunnies. This is dedicated to my wonderful theatrical friends who keep inspiring me with wonderful ideas and situations. This is set about 11 years after Bad wolf Bay.

The sounds of children's laughter filled the house when Pete, Jackie and Toni arrived at the Doctor and Rose's home. After a busy month Ellen had volunteered to make a wonderful dinner for the whole family. Personally the Doctor thought she just wanted an excuse to get out the good china for once, but seeing the lady happily singing and bustling around the kitchen did make one smile.

"And what are you doing up there miss Verity?" Pete asked his granddaughter, who at the moment was happily ridding around on her father's shoulder in the main hallway.

"I am trying to touch the ceiling." She giggled.

"Now that your grandparents are here I think it is time for little girl's to go wash up for dinner." The Doctor helped her slip down his back and onto the floor.

"Awww…" Verity fussed.

"You come to grandmum and I will get you all fixed up." Jackie wrapped her into a hug, and took her to the washroom.

Turning his attention away from his in-laws the Doctor offered a hand to Toni. "How are you doing Toni?"

"Doing well sir." He shook the Doctor's hand as looked around the foyer, "It has been a while since I have been here."

The Doctor shut the door behind them. "Oh yes, you have been going to Kings College."

"We just finished mid term exams, sir" Toni smiled at the Doctor. "I just hope I did well on them."

"I'm sure you did fine." The Doctor showed them into the lounge. "Toni, would you mind taking your parent's coats? You can put them in the hall closet."

"No problem sir." Toni took his parents coats and went out into the hall with them.

"I wish I could get him to do that." Pete commented. "Having him keep his room clean, much less play the gentleman, is a nightmare."

"When someone is known to have lunches with your headmaster you would butter him up any way you can, Father." Toni jokingly commented as he came back in to the lounge.

"It was the one time Toni." The Doctor picked up one of Verity's dolls that had fallen on the floor. "Besides, it didn't hurt your grades any."

"No it didn't, but did you have to tell him ALL those stories on me?" Toni plopped down in a chair. "I couldn't look him in the eye for weeks."

Everyone was laughing when Jackie and Verity walked into the room. "Doctor, Rose wanted me to tell you to go get James. He is in one of his moods."

"Moods?" Pete asked as the Doctor headed for the door.

"He started Byron Junior School this past September." He said a little uncomfortable, "He hasn't been getting along well with some of the teachers."

"What happened?" Pete asked

"Still too smart for his britches isn't he?" Jackie gave him a wry grin.

"Yes Jackie, he is," The Doctor grumbled. "I'm going to go see what it is."

"While he is getting Jamie, Ellen has dinner ready." Jackie shoo'd them out of the lounge.

"This was excellent Ellen." Pete commented as he sat down his napkin.

"Old family recipe for roast chicken; I'm glad you like it." Ellen started to pick up the plates.

"Let me help you with that." The Doctor started to get up, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, "You are the host, so you are staying put. Toni, up you get."

Rolling his eyes Toni took a stack of plates from Ellen and followed her out of the room.

"Can we go play?" Verity asked.

"Go on both of you." Rose smiled. "I know you don't want to listen to boring adult talk." Everyone laughed as both children quickly scurried off, and back up stairs to the nursery.

Once the laughter died down, Pete turned to the Doctor, "So why did you really ask us here?"

Rose raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. He ignored it and continued, "I need your authorization to look into something."

"This is a first, you coming to me with an issue." Pete sat back and crossed his arms.

"Dad, hear him out." Rose glared at her father.

"I recently was contacted by Mathew Harker."

"Isn't he the barrister guy that…" Jackie sat up, now very interested.

"Yes the guy with the thing, that helped us… yes him." The Doctor brushed it off. "He has run into some odd dealing and he thought it might be something of interest to us."

"If it has your interest it has got to be something intriguing." Pete stood, and helped Jackie with her chair.

The Doctor stood at the fireplace while he watched Pete read over the documents. Rose sat on the sofa leaning on the arm rest hand on her forehead.

"Here we are" Jackie came into the room carrying a tea tray. "Ellen sent this with me. She and Toni are dishing up pudding. How she gets him to help her in the kitchen is beyond me."

"He knows he isn't getting any of Ellen's famous deserts if he doesn't help." Pete commented from where he was reading.

"So what do you think?" The Doctor asked as he absent mindedly chewed on his thump nail.

"Mr. Harker does have a good case here for something very odd." Pete held out one page, "Three deaths and five people who show signs of sever blood loss coupled with sleep walking, memory loss, personality changes and hallucinations."

"The Medical examiners report shows only a simple puncture would on each of the victims."

"If it was two I would think we had a vampire running around." Pete joked slightly as he took a cup of tea from Jackie.

"Plasmavore actually." The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose. "The question is why it is leaving people alive."

"Explain." Pete looked up at the Doctor seriously.

"Plasmavores require blood to survive. Generally they can do well by drinking the blood of animals, typically cattle, but some will bridge the gap to humanoids. Considering how rich humanoid blood can be it can become addictive to them."

"Talk about a weird addiction." Jackie said as she handed the Doctor his tea.

"Generally Plasmavores that will come in contact with humans will just find a blood bank somewhere and just slowly siphon off blood. Relatively harmless unless they decide to move to 'fresh' blood; then we start having problems."

"Kind of like a drug addict working in a pharmacy. One or two pills go missing over time, no one will notice; when large batches start going people get suspicious."

"Correct." The Doctor added lemon to his tea.

"Are you alright sweet heart?" Jackie handed Rose a cup of tea.

Rose sat up, "Yeah, just tired. Work has been really busy lately. It's been a struggled to spend time with the Doctor and the children." She took the tea and sipped at it, her attention on the Doctor and her father.

"So you think this is a rogue plasmavore?"

"The first 3 deaths sound very much like plasmavore attacks, but the others are odd because the people are still alive. Plasmavores don't leave their victims alive once they begin draining them."

"Why are they leaving them alive? And what are these odd symptoms?" Pete asked.

"THAT is why I want to take a team out there to investigate."

Pete sighed, "I can give you Rose, Jake, and Arthur Skyler, our new xenobiology expert. The rest of the teams are caught up in other projects."

"When could we have the team together? Rose asked.

"I'll call Jake and Arthur on my way home. They could meet you at Torchwood tomorrow morning 8AM. "

"Make it 9, we will need to get James to school, and Verity to nursery." Rose looked to her Mum. "Would you mind looking after them while we are gone?"

"Ask a Grandmum to spoil her grandkids for a few days, you twisted my arm." Jackie laughed.

Author's Note: I meant to get this out before Halloween, but didn't happen. Are you intrigued? Let me know via a review.


	2. Welcome to Westendra Estate

Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Dr Who. I am just someone who keeps getting hit by plot bunnies. This is dedicated to my wonderful theatrical friends who keep inspiring me with wonderful ideas and situations. This is set about 11 years after Bad wolf Bay.

* * *

About two in the afternoon the next day the Doctor, and Rose pulled up in front of an old hunting sea side estate.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Rose asked.

"These are the directions Matthew gave us." The Doctor got out of the jeep.

"Nice place for a holiday," A man in his early twenties pulled a couple medical bags out of the back of the jeep.

"Dealing with blood sucking creatures is NOT my idea of a holiday." Jake said as he got out of the other side of the jeep.

Everyone's heads turned to where the front door opened of the estate. "Welcome to Westendra Manor"

"Thank you and you are?" Rose offered him her hand.

"Rose, this is Mathew Harker. He is the chief barrister for the Harker-Holms firm." The Doctor introduced them, "Mathew this is Rose Tyler-Smith. She is my liaison to Torchwood, and the one who is matrimonial bound to try to keep me out of trouble."

"The last part is the only part of the job that I have difficulty at." Rose smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"The one looking like a pack mule is Arthur, he's in charge of medical, and Jake is here for security."

"Nice to meet you all, please come in where we can discuss what has been going on."

The Doctor let Jake and Arthur enter before him as he took hold of Rose's arm, "Are you sure you are alright? You don't look like you feel well."

"Doctor, I'm fine." She flashed him a smile, "We just spent 6 hours in a car. We haven't had lunch yet, and I am worried about leaving James and Verity behind. I. Am. Fine."

"Alright, but if…"

"If I starting feeling bad I'll tell you; I promise." She kissed his cheek then headed in. Still a little concerned the Doctor followed her inside.

Mathew had tea and sandwiches waiting for them when they entered the parlor of the house.

"Leave your things in the hall, and my staff with take them to your rooms." Mathew directed and then took a seat in one of the chairs. "Please help yourself to the tea and sandwiches. I assure you my cook is quite accomplished."

"Thank you." The travelers made themselves at home.

"Obviously I received your report Mathew, but can you tell us what has been going on?"

"On September 14th we had a bad storm off the coast which caused a cargo ship to run aground about 5 miles down the coast." Mathew leaned forward and spoke to all of them.

"We heard about that. The only crew member found was the captain, and he had tied himself to the wheel." Rose nodded.

"The log book, and computer systems show no malfunctions prior to the storm hitting them. After that, there are blank; no GPS, no trackers, no computer records at all." Mathew continued.

"So, no survivors and no records of what caused the grounding." Jake commented from where he stood by the door.

"At least that is what we thought at first." Mathew looked to Jake, "That was until two days later when 2 of the village children found a woman washed up on the beach near death. She was dehydrated, malnourished, and sunburned."

"Who was she?" Rose asked.

"She couldn't remember her name. The most we could get out of her was that she was on the cargo ship during the storm. The next thing she remembered was waking up in hospital."

"When did the deaths start happening?" The Doctor asked.

"Our mystery girl had left the hospital for a small flat. Three days after living there her land lady found her dead, her blood drained."

"What about the other's?" Rose asked.

"Albert Jacobs, he is a local fisherman. They found him on the docks. The last one was Gregory Finn, a local cattle farmer. All were found drained of blood."

"And those that weren't killed?" Arthur asked from his full plate of sandwiches. Rose gave him a disgusted look but he rolled his eyes.

"All but one of the victims are currently at the local hospital with similar symptoms as our mystery girl. Only theirs has progressed to sleep walking as well, and what is odd is that they are continuing to loose blood despite blood transfusions."

"Where is the missing victim?" The Doctor asked.

"It is me." A voice came from the hallways. Jake stepped out of the way to let petite woman with dark hair enter the room, "I'm Joesphine Harker, Mathew's wife."

* * *

"Do you remember what happened to you?" The Doctor asked once Mrs. Harker was seated with a cup of herbal tea.

"Mathew was working late at the firm last week. My hobby is showing champion warm bloods. One of my prize mares has been having a rough pregnancy. She was due any time, and I went out to check on her." She sipped her tea, but spilled much of it due to her shaking. "When I got to the stable I heard the horses being unsteady. I went to my mare and found that she was wild eyed and nervous. I entered her stall to comfort her. My presence helped, but I left her stall to get her a treat from the tack room. I don't remember much after that until Matthew found me later that night."

"How did you find her?" Rose asked.

"When I got home late that night none of the servants had seen her. We began searching and we found her in the walkway between the stalls and the tack room. She was sheet white, and unconscious. We called for an ambulance. The doctors couldn't find what caused my blood loss."

"What treatment did they give you?" Arthur asked his notebook in hand.

"They gave me 4 pints of blood to start with." Mrs. Harker looked to her husband, as she couldn't stop shaking. Rose took her free hand.

Mathew continued for her, "They treated her for shock as well. They didn't know what caused her blood loss other than the single puncture wound to her neck."

"Has there been any other incidents since the stable?" The Doctor asked.

"No," she looked up at him slightly fearful, "I don't leave the house much, but when I do I am always accompanied by someone else."

Arthur turned a page in is note book, "The others, Mr. Harker said that their cases have progressed with odd symptoms, have you experience anything odd?"

"I ran a high fever for the three days following. We have managed to keep the fevers under control but I still frequently get the chills. I also get dizzy due to bad head aches but nothing like the other's."

"Why didn't you stay and get treatment at hospital?" Rose asked helping her set her tea cup down.

"Since our son was born, I have not been very trusting of hospitals." Mrs. Harker hid her face in her hands.

The Doctor looked to Mathew with the unspoken question, "Our son, Daniel, he was born early with complications. Due to a doctor's mishandling of the case, his issues were exacerbated. We lost him last March. Since then we have avoided going to medical doctors when ever we can."

Rose wanted to ask more about Daniel, but one look from the Doctor she decided to try another approach. "What did you do to care for yourself?"

"After they gave me the blood transfusion there was little else they COULD do for me. At the time I wasn't running a fever, and other than being weak, I was fine. When I did start showing symptoms I thought they were just a bad flu or something, and did a normal treatment for that."

"Which was?" Arthur asked.

"Herbal teas that lower fevers, vitamins to boost the immune system, any natural medical treatments for what was happening to me." She supplied.

"I'd like to get samples of the products you used. It is possible that one of them is doing something to help you that the others in the hospital are not getting."

"I will have the servants give you the samples you need." Mrs. Harker wiped her face again and made to stand, "I'm going to go lay down for a while. Nice to meet all of you." She excused her self as all of them watched her go.

When she was gone the Doctor turned to Mathew. "She isn't alright, is she?"

"She has nightmares, every night." Mathew started to pace a little, "She doesn't sleep walk but she gets no peace."

"She spoke of your son, Daniel. Could her illness now be effected by any condition he may have had?" Rose asked.

Mathew shrugged, "Daniel was two years old. His medical issues were not genetic, but the loss of our son has affected us both deeply. I don't know what I would tell him if he was here. Because of her nightmares I must sleep in another room. I can hear her screams at night. I don't know what to tell the staff when they ask if she is alright."

"Well, the first thing you can tell them is that the Doctor and his friends are here to help her."

* * *

With a sigh Rose dropped onto their bed. "What a day."

"It's a start." The Doctor hung up the few bits of clothing they had brought with them. "Arthur is going to be monitoring Mrs. Harker's vitals during the night. If anything is wrong the alarms will go off. Jake and I are going to trade off sentry duty tonight."

"What about me?" Rose asked as she prepared for bed.

"You are going to get some rest." He laid a finger to Rose's lips before she could complain. "You have not been feeling well lately, and don't tell me you aren't tired. I swear you nearly fell asleep in the middle of dinner tonight."

Rose glared at him, but its fire lost a bit with her smile, "Well Mathew has a voice that can put you to sleep."

"Most barristers' do." The Doctor smirked as he slipped his trainer off.

"Besides," Rose continued, "I'm not the only one who is looking a little peaky. If this wasn't critical I would have had put this off for another week or so."

"Oh I'm fine," He brushed it off as he crawled into the bed next to her, "Probably just picked up sniffles or something from Ver or James. Nothing serious." He shifted himself to get into a comfortable position next to her.

"Doctor…" Rose asked as she felt the Doctor snuggle up to her back, his left arm across her waist.

"Hmm…" He sat his chin on the top of her head.

"If something was wrong, you would tell me, wouldn't you?" He looked back at him.

"Of course," He kissed the top of her head, "Just as you would tell me." He moved his other arm so that it ran under her pillow. "Now get some sleep, we have blood suckers to catch."

* * *

Author's Note: As promised another chapter. What is going on here? Can you guess?


	3. Tea, Toast and Blood

Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Dr Who. I am just someone who keeps getting hit by plot bunnies. This is dedicated to my wonderful theatrical friends who keep inspiring me with wonderful ideas and situations. This is set about 11 years after Bad wolf Bay.

* * *

The next morning the Doctor came skipping down the main stairs whistling some odd tune. Jake met him at the bottom of the stairs. "I was about to come get you and Rose. Is everything alright?"

"Rose had a rough night," He looked back up the stairs. "I thought I would let her sleep a little bit longer." Hands in pockets he walked up to Jake.

"Breakfast is being served in an hour, but the tea is hot & the pastries are fresh. Everyone else is in the parlor." Jake showed him into a sitting room.

Mrs. Harker was already there, and poured the Doctor a cup. "Good Morning Doctor. I hope you had a good night?"

"No too bad," The Doctor took a drink of the tea she handed him, and immediately went bugged eyed. "What… kind of tea is this?" The Doctor felt the bile creep up his throat.

"A special blend of mine," She smiled, "Full of mint, St. John's wart, Hibiscus, rose hips, and of course garlic blossoms."

Putting a napkin to his lips the Doctor tried to quell a rolling stomach. "Interesting concoction of herbs."

"It is one of the few things that make me feel better." She poured herself another cup of tea, as she raised an eye brow at the Doctor. "I typically recommend having at least a biscuit, or some sort of food when consuming it. Other wise it tends to upset the stomach if you are not use to it."

"Indeed," The Doctor sat the tea down, "And how was your night Mrs. Harker?"

"I am still having nightmares, but they are lessening in intensity and frequency." She sipped her tea, "Did your team find anything last night?"

"I monitored your vitals last night. You are still running a low grade fever, and your blood pressure is still rather low, but I would need to admit you to a hospital or have more sensitive equipment sent from London for me to do any higher level scans." Arthur said after he swallowed his mouthful of croissant.

As if poked Jake spoke up, "We didn't find anything of interest. Your horses became quite vocal about 3:20 AM this morning, but your stable boy and I went to see to them. We found nothing. He thinks it was a fox or something spooking them."

"It is possible." The Doctor conceded. "Anything else?" Jake shook his head. "And where is Mathew this morning?"

"He was called out at dawn this morning. He wouldn't say why. The office called and said he was needed in town immediately." Mrs. Harker supplied.

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" The Doctor stood quickly, nearly upsetting his tea.

"Because it didn't seem important." She looked at him in all sincerity, "You are investigating an odd illness, why would you care if my husband is called out on business?"

"Because, if he is anything like my husband, it usually means there is trouble afoot." Rose smiled at the Doctor as she walked into the room.

"Feeling better?" The Doctor asked as he kissed her cheek.

"A bit," she smiled, and pulled a cozy off a tea pot on the table.

"Rose I wouldn't…" The Doctor warned.

Raising an eye brow at the Doctor, she poured a small bit into a cup, sniffed it, and took a sip. She smiled after the sip.

"You like that?" The Doctor asked her completely astonished.

"It's dill ginger tea with lemon." Rose took another sip of the tea, "Ellen gives it to me all the time." She smiled at Mrs. Harker. "There is another flavor in it. What is it?"

"Rose hips, I prefer getting my vitamin C that way than sweet oranges." Mrs. Harker smirked at the Doctor. "Just because I like something doesn't mean every one will, hence the 2nd tea pot. Besides, the look on your face was worth it." Mrs. Harker teased.

The Doctor's come back was interrupted by his mobile going off. He glared at a snickering Rose as he answered it. "Hello?"

On the other end of the line was Mathew Harker, "Doctor, I think you need to get down here?"

"Where is here?" The Doctor motioned for ever one to get moving.

"I am at the Grey& Holtz limited warehouse. It's at the docks. They found another body."

"Another one?" The Doctor gave Rose a look. She grabbed a couple pastries, finished her tea, and grabbed her things. The others were already heading toward the door, "We will be there in..." he checked his watch, "10 minutes."

"Understood, and thank you Doctor." Mathew hung up the phone.

Snapping the phone closed, "Mrs. Harker, why would your husband be at the docks?" The Doctor shouted to her as he headed towards the door.

"He has been negotiating a settlement for a group of workers there. Something about unsafe working conditions." She followed him to the door.

"It got a whole lot more unsafe there." He walked through the door Rose was holding for him. "Stay here and DO NOT leave the house."

When they got into the car Rose turned to him, "What are you thinking?"

"That something more is going on than I thought."

* * *

They all pulled up in front of the warehouse. There was already police there. A couple police offices tried to make a fuss but Rose broke off to speak with them. Torchwood had jurisdiction over anything that was on the weird side, but if this was just an odd murder than the regular police can just have it. In the mean time the Doctor, Jake, and Arthur were going to see what was going on.

They hadn't gotten far when Mathew ran up to them. Before he could say anything the Doctor had him by the arm, pulling him off to the side, "What is going on?"

Out of breath, "I got a call this morning at dawn saying that Mr. Gray, he is the owner, wanted to do a breakfast meeting regarding the negotiations, seemed simple enough. But what was odd, was that he wanted to meet here."

"Why is meeting here odd?" Arthur asked.

"Mr. Grey is the owner but it is his partner Jacob Holtz that runs this place. He has an office upstairs in the warehouse. Mr. Gray rarely comes to the warehouse."

"That is odd." The Doctor murmured, but motioned for him to continue.

"When I got here I saw his car, but no sign of him, so I headed into the warehouse. No one stopped me, not even to say good morning, or what you are doing here." Matthew looked back and forth between the Doctor and Jake. "It made me a little uneasy."

"I would say so." The Doctor commented, "Did you find Mr. Gray?"

"I made my way across the ware house. I heard some banging near the stairs to the office, but nothing else. I went up stairs and I found Mr. Grey. He was on the floor behind his desk, dead."

It was then that Arthur came running up, "I just talked to the medical examiner. Mr. Gray has the same neck puncture as the other victims, but get this. He wasn't completely drained of blood."

"Then the thing could still be in the warehouse." The Doctor spun and went to the nearest police constable. "Has anyone come out of the warehouse?"

"We have locked the place down soon as we arrived sir. Everyone is accounted for." The constable looked at him concerned. "Is there a problem sir?"

"Have the warehouse searched thoroughly." The Doctor saw the constable start to make a comment, "I know you most likely have searched it, but do it again." The constable glared at him, but got on the radio to have the place searched again.

Rose walked up to them, "We have been given full access to this case, but they want us to share anything we can find. What have you two found?"

"We think," The Doctor pulled his sonic screw driver from his pocket and headed into the warehouse. "That our creature may still be in here." Hands on weapons, Rose and Arthur followed him into the warehouse, while Jake covered their rear.

Like most warehouses it was still a little creepy even during the daytime. When they came to an intersection the Doctor went to the left with Arthur, and Rose with Jake to the right.

As they walked Arthur whispered to the Doctor, "Why would a plasmavore leave mid feed."

"Because something," The Doctor scanned a pallet of goods, "surprised it. Normally, once they start feeding they don't let go. But the big question is why here of all places?" The Doctor put his screwdriver away and scratched the back of his head.

"This does seem like a very unlikely place for a blood sucker to hang out." Arthur examined a pallet of goods.

"It's not," The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and scanned behind a large shelving unit. "That is what bothers me more than anything. It's acting completely opposite to it nature."

"Like a rogue animal?" Arthur asked as he warily shined light into various areas.

"One that is very sick…" The Doctor came upon a refrigerated cabinet that had been torn open.

"The constables didn't get into this area. They were concentrating near the office." Arthur shined his torch into the cabinet.

"Hello, what have we here…" The Doctor put his glasses on.

"What is all that?" Arthur wrinkled his nose.

"They once were vaccines for cattle." He examined a broken vial, "What would a plasmavore want with cattle vaccines?"

Before Arthur could make a comment there was a loud scream.

"Rose…" The Doctor took off in the direction of the scream. Arthur was not on his heels.

When the Doctor got to the place where they had separated he heard a more sedate Rose shout his name. Still running he followed the sound of her voice.

He found a green tinged Rose, and Jake standing back from where a large pool of blood was splattered all over the pathway.

"Rose, are you alright?" He laid a hand on her shoulder. She turned to hug him for a moment.

"Yeah," her green tint seemed to fade a bit. "Jake and I came around the corner and saw someone leaning on the shelving. When we go closer he…" Rose put her hand over her mouth starting to turn green again. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her.

Jake picked up where Rose left off. "The guy looked back at us clutched his stomach and spewed sick and blood all over the ground. In the confusion, he managed to run off, but he did NOT look good."

"Did you get a look at his face?" The Doctor asked; as he watched Arthur bend down to examine the bloody sick on the floor.

Jake shook his head, "Not very well, he was maybe 5'4" maybe 5'6", brown hair, 140-145…"

"This is defiantly human blood, and sick. That was our plasmavore." Arthurs stood and put the samples in his bag. "Looks like he manage to vomit up most of what he had eaten this morning." Arthur grimaced at the pool on the floor.

"Jake, Arthur go alert the constables to what has happened. And see if they can't locate our missing 'person'." The Doctor turned his attention back to Rose.

The two men nodded and left the two of them alone.

Once the were gone, the Doctor looked down at Rose his hand under her chin, "Are you alright?" the concern for her evident in his eyes.

"Can we walk away from that stuff it's making me sick all over again?" Rose tried covered her mouth with her hand.

"Sure," taking her hand he led her 100 yards away, where the air was much clearer.

"Thanks," After couple minutes Rose started to look more herself.

"What happened?"

"Just like Jake said. We were checking around to see where the plasmavore might be but no sign of him until we turned that corner and saw him leaning on the shelves. Then…." She gestured what happened. "It surprised me, I screamed, you came running, as always."

"I meant, you. What happened to you? Stuff like that normally doesn't faze you." He leaned on the shelving opposite of her, his arms crossed.

"I'm fine." She gave him one of her classic smiles, "Even you have to admit that when someone spews sick in front of you, one does tend to go a little green themselves."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "But you were greener than some aliens I know."

"Doctor, I'm fine." He went over and placed a gentle kiss to his lips, "Besides you didn't exactly look all rosy when James spewed all those peas all over your suit when he was 9 months old." Rose glared up at him.

"I still wonder how infants that small can projectile vomit that far, and in that quantity," The Doctor cringed a little, and then became serious. "Are you sure you are alright?"

"Doctor, I'm fine; just a rough morning." She looked up at him in complete honesty.

The Doctor wanted to push for her to stay at the manor, or at least out of harms way, but that was like asking the sun not to shine. With a sigh he agreed, "Just promise me if any thing is wrong…"

"… You will be the first to know." She kissed his cheek, as she slipped her hand into his.

* * *

Arthur Notes: Keep the reviews coming. It might be a couple days between chapters for a little bit. Real life rears its ugly head, but who knows what ideas I will come up with in the mean time.


	4. Digging Deeper

Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Dr Who. I am just someone who keeps getting hit by plot bunnies. This is dedicated to my wonderful theatrical friends who keep inspiring me with wonderful ideas and situations. This is set about 11 years after Bad wolf Bay.

* * *

They had spent the past couple hours at the warehouse going over it with a fine tooth comb. The constables there didn't see someone matching the description of the plasmavore, but that didn't mean he couldn't have mixed in with the crowd that was outside the tape. At least for now it was gone.

Rose had managed to get copies of the constable's preliminary reports. Currently all of them were sitting around the Harker's dinning table going over the findings.

"What have the labs come back with?" Rose asked as she pulled out a folder.

"The blood that thing threw up was Mr. Gray's. They are going to run some bio screens on it. I courier to London a set of the samples for our people to run tests on, just to make sure; they won't be ready for another couple hours."

One of the servants brought in 2 pots of tea and some sandwiches for them. "Here you go. The Missus sent two pots of tea for you. The red pattern has the lemon ginger that Ms Rose preferred this morning. The other is another herbal tea but it should be more to the Doctor's likes. And before ya ask, Mrs. Harker doesn't keep much of the normal black tea here, but I have the grocery boy bringing some for you. In the mean time, please make do." The servant smirked as she set the tea tray down. "If you need anything else just ring." She then excused herself.

"This stuff is heavenly." Rose sipped the tea with a smile.

This time the Doctor sniffed the tea before he drank it, "Not bad, not enough tannin for my taste but it's better than some of the 'tea' I have drank in my travels."

"You were the one that picked it," Rose quirked an eyebrow at the Doctor, "It's not my fault that for once, it was truth in advertising."

The Doctor gave Rose a glare as he turned with his own tea cup and began to read.

Whispering Arthur leaned over to Rose, "What kind of tea was it?"

"It roughly translated to Flying Purple Lion guano grass. It was supposed to give you the strength of a lion, and make you feel like you were flying."

Arthur nearly choked on his own tea, "So what was it?"

"Just what it said it was. It was tea made from a plant that grows in piles of alien flying quasi lion dung." The Doctor gave Rose his 'I'm not amused look', then turned to Arthur. "Supposedly the best is one's that still have some of the dung on it."

"And since we always got the best…" Rose cut in with a smirk. Arthur tried to quell his laugh, while Jake who had just caught the last part of the conversation just looked disgusted.

"Boss, the last of the reports arrived," Jake handed the reports to the Doctor.

"Excellent!" He spread them out on the table before them.

Setting her tea down Rose stood next to him, "What are we looking for exactly?"

"Something to tie all these things together." The Doctor slipped his glasses on.

"Each victim seems isolated." Rose laid out photographs of each of the victims. "The first non-death victim was Nicolas Fowler. He works for one of the local banks as a teller. He the first to be attacked, but was the 2nd victim to be located. His wife found him walking down a country road 10 miles from their house, still asleep." She pointed to the next one, "Amy Fitzpatrick, she is a late night clerk at a pharmacy. He co-workers found her passed out on the floor of the pharmacy. The pharmacy had been trashed. There was so much damage they are not sure if or how much medication was taken."

The Doctor picked up the next picture, "Next was Kelsie Ryans, she is a bar tender and waitress at a local pub. A constable found her unconscious at a bus stop. He initially thought she was just another drunk, but after examining her found her burning up with fever and very pale. It was after the discovery of her that the constables started to notice."

"Didn't do much good for the other victims," Rose pointed to the next picture, "Doctor David Parker, a well known country vet. He was coming back from a late night call to a farm when he saw something in the road and stopped to check on what it was. He remembers getting out of his truck and then nothing until he woke up in hospital. He was found some hours later by a farm hand that was inspecting the fences. Several of their cows had gone missing."

"And the last is our hostess Mrs. Joesphine Harker." The Doctor tossed the file they had on her onto the table. "What is so special about these people? " The Doctor ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Nick's medical history isn't anything out of the ordinary. He is just your average guy working at a bank; pretty boring really." Arthur looked up over his lap top. "It is the same for Amy, to be honest. She plays online games and has 4 cats. The most notable thing in her profile is that she won a local theater award for playing a living china doll in a play."

"And the other's?" Rose took sips of her tea as she sat down. The Doctor moved to stand behind Arthur at the computer, his glasses on his nose.

"Ms. Ryan has been married 4 times, to 3 different men. A few run in's with the law, but nothing serious. She spends her nights tending bar, and waiting tables. The pub she works at is just down the street from where she was found, and that is about it." Arthur switched to the next file, "Dr. Parker has worked in the area for the past thirty years as a small and large animal vet. Every one likes him, and he does well for himself."

"What is that?" The Doctor pointed to something on the screen.

"His veterinarian office recently received a couple grants to begin testing on new vaccines, and medications." Arthur clicked a couple things, "Heh, one of the grants was from the Torchwood Foundation."

"From us?" Rose walked over to the both of them. "What for?"

Arthur logged into something, "Actually yes. He was testing some agriculture products for us."

The Doctor nudged Arthur out of the chair, "And what has Torchwood unleashed now?" The Doctor started doing something to the computer that even Rose couldn't follow. "That's odd."

"What's odd?" Rose looked over his shoulder.

He sneezed really loudly. "Sorry..."

With a smirk Rose handed him a hanky, "As you were saying?"

He glared up at her, "As I was saying, it's odd that the shipment of supplies were never delivered."

"Where are they then?" Arthur asked.

"Good question." The Doctor swiveled to face them. "Jake… Jake…?"

"He was escorting Mrs. Harker around the grounds. He wanted her to show him where her attack occurred." Arthur supplied.

"When he get's back I want him to…" The Doctor stopped mid sentence when he heard the sound of shouting from out side, and the call for a doctor. All of them ran out of the room, to see Jake carrying in Mrs. Harker.

"Lay her on the sofa." Arthur grabbed his bag and began examining her.

"What happened?" The Doctor spun on Jake.

"She wanted to ride her horses. I didn't want her out there alone, so I went with her. I didn't leave her alone for a second." He looked to each of them, "I swear."

"We believe you, but what happened?" Rose asked from the Doctor's left.

"I didn't want her to go far, so she just rode in the ring. Everything was going fine, but I noticed her balance was off when she went over the jumps. She said she was alright."

The Doctor gave Rose a significant look, and then motioned for Jake to continue.

"She seemed fine at first, but the horse started to act odd. Within a moment she started to fall out of the saddle. I got to her in time and helped her to the ground. When I touched her she felt like she was burning up. Despite her protests I brought her back up here. Half way here she started to shake."

"Febrile seizures." Arthur stood up from where he hand been kneeling to examine Mrs. Harker. "She is running a 103.1 temperature."

It was then that Mathew ran in. "Josey…" He knelt next to her, "What happened?"

"We think she had a relapse, Mr. Harker. I would like to take her to the hospital." Arthur spoke up rather forcefully.

"No," Mathew said stubbornly, "I will not have her in a hospital." He clutched his wife's hand.

"What ever this illness is, it is killing her. I can only do so much here. I need her in a hospital where I can monitor her better."

"She could die there." Mathew clutched his wife hand, near tears.

"She WILL die here if she isn't treated," The Doctor took hold of Mathew's jacket and made him look at him.

"Trust me, I do understand," He looked from Mathew to Rose, and back again to Mathew's eyes, "but your wife needs medical help that we can't give her."

Rose laid a hand on Mathew's shoulder, "We will put her in a secure ward, and only Artie will look after her."

Arthur looked up from where he was settling Mrs. Harker, "Artie?" Rose silenced him with a look.

"Let us help you," The Doctor encouraged him. Finally Mathew nodded. "Alright, Artie package her up, and we will take her to St. John's Hospital."

"I'll call ahead and get a private ward set up." Rose already had her mobile out.

Taking hold of Mathew's arm the Doctor led him away so that Arthur could do his job. "Mathew, I promise you we will do all we can for her."

* * *

Arthur and Mathew went with the ambulance. He was able to report back that she had regained consciousness, but was not out of the woods yet. She still had a high temp, and was still 'twitchy'. At least at the hospital Arthur could run more tests.

That is why several hours later, a much more sober Rose, Jake and the Doctor were again hunched over the papers at the dinning room table, pots of tea everywhere.

"None of this follows anything we know about plasmavores." Rose pushed a lock of hair out of her face in frustration.

"Mathew was thinking that the wreck of the cargo ship was the cause of this." The Doctor looked over a file. "I wish we knew what they were carrying."

Rose picked up another file, "All of the goods in the cargo hold of the ship were catalog and stored in a local warehouse until the proper owner could be found."

"Which warehouse?" The Doctor swiveled in his chair as he reviewed the document in his hands.

Rose turned a couple pages, "Grey & Holtz Limited." Rose sat up straight as the Doctor pulled the papers from her hands. "That's the place we were this morning."

"What was on that ship that was so important?" Jake asked as he pulled up something on the laptop.

"That is what I hope to find out." The Doctor pushed Jake aside as he sat down at the computer.

"You said earlier that the smashed cabinet contained what?"

"Vaccines for cattle," The Doctor pulled up a listing of cattle vaccines and began comparing them against the inventory list from the cargo ship."

"Any of interest?" Rose looked over his shoulder.

"Well", he looked closely at the data, "its pretty much standard. The only odd thing was there was a lot of antiviral but nothing that shouldn't be there. To be honest the cargo was almost all agricultural goods and implements, import grain and herb goods. I mean come on why would some one an old tractor for?" He gestured at the screen.

"A collector of odd things?" Jake tried to joke but it fell flat.

"What about the woman; the girl that washed up?" Rose pulled another file from the stack.

"They got back a genetic match to a search they did before she died. Her name was Julia Dorvan. She was biological engineer specializing in blood born diseases."

"Any idea why she was on the ship?" Jake asked, pouring a cup of tea for each of them.

"The company she worked for said that had been assigned to escort some new development to a lab here in Brittan. She was terrified of heights so it wasn't unusual for her to take a boat." The Doctor read from her profile.

"What did the company say the new development was?" Rose asked as she took her tea from Jake.

"Nope." The Doctor popped the P. "But…" The Doctor entered a few key strokes which brought up a Torchwood program, "Her name sounds familiar and I think I know where I heard it at." He entered a few things, when another profile came up.

"That is Julia?" Jake pointed out when he looked at the screen. "But I know her."

"She works in our biochem lab." The Doctor brought up a list of her projects. "I knew I remembered her from Torchwood. Aha! She researches blood born diseases for Torchwood, and the other company is her cover job."

"What was her last assignment?" Rose asked.

The Doctor entered his access codes, but it was denied. "That's strange. Pete has given me full access to any Torchwood records."

"Does it give a reason why you are locked out?" Rose asked as she looked at the screen.

"It says the file is blocked from outside the main frame access. If we want to see it, some back home is going to have to access it for us."

"Which means it is going to have to be Pete." Rose walked over to the corner with her mobile. "I just hope I don't wake the children."

"It is early enough, they will be just heading to bed." The thought of his children back home brought a smile to the Doctor's face.

The Doctor's thoughts were broken when there was a knock on the door frame. He turned to see a haggard Mathew standing there. "How is she?"

"Arthur has her stable. He sent me home for a little while. He said he would call if there was any change." Mathew took a seat at the table his face in his hands.

"We will do all we can for her." The Doctor put a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks" Mathew looked up at him.

"Pst… Doctor." Rose stuck her head into the room. "Catch..." She tossed him her mobile.

He caught it and put it to his ear, "Daddy…" the squeal of Verity carried through the phone.

"Hey sweet heart..." With a wide smile the Doctor walked into the other room so he could talk to his family in peace.

"I envy him." Mathew sighed as he stood up.

"Why?" Jake asked as he packed up all of their papers for the night.

"It has been a long time since I have seen that kind of happiness," Hands in his pockets Mathew walked away sadly.

* * *

Author's note: Ok, I lied. I got hit by inspiration and just couldn't stop. Hope you are enjoying it so far.


	5. The Turbulent Storm

Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Dr Who. I am just someone who keeps getting hit by plot bunnies. This is dedicated to my wonderful theatrical friends who keep inspiring me with wonderful ideas and situations. This is set about 11 years after Bad wolf Bay.

* * *

The Doctor ran his hands through his hair for the 100th time that night. It was getting late but he felt they had not managed to get any head way.

Pete was going to send the data they needed first thing in the morning. He couldn't get into the city at this time of night without raising too many suspicions.

The best scenario that they have been able to piece together was that Julia had been on the ship. What ever she was carrying had been on that ship. When it crashed what ever it was got loose? Or did it? Dr. Parker never received the samples he had been waiting for, which one can assume was what ever Julia had been carrying. Mr. Gray's warehouse was housing the salvage from the wrecked ship. Was the Plasmavore looking for what ever Julia was carrying? If that was the case why did it attack the other people?

The Doctor let out a frustrated sigh. He wasn't sure if it was the situation they were in or something else that was making his head ache. Giving up for now he looked over to the small sofa in the sitting room. Rose had been there going over something on her laptop when she had dozed off a half hour ago. He didn't have the heart to wake her and had let her sleep. At least one of them could get some rest at the momment. Jake was protrolling the grounds even with the bad storm rolling in. Arthur was still at the hospital keeping an eye on Mrs. Harker and trying to finish the tests he had started earlier.

The Doctor stood, brushed a lock of Rose's hair out of her face, and then made his way to the manor's kitchen. The staff had retired house ago. They would be up early preparing for the next day. For now the kitchen was empty. He heated a kettle for tea, and found a tea tin labeled 'chamomile tea', and proceeded to make himself a cup of tea.

He was heading back into the front of the house, sipping his tea, when his mobile rang.

"Doctor, its Arthur." Arthur said frantically on the other side of the line.

"What's wrong?" He sat his tea down on the table next to when Rose lay, then proceeded to nudge her awake.

"I just got the tests back on those samples I took this morning."

"What about them?" He helped a groggy Rose to sit up.

"Doctor, you were right, the Plasmavore is sick, very sick."

The Doctor did NOT like the sound of this. Putting his hand over the mouthpiece he turned to Rose, "Grab everyone." Nodding Rose hurried off to prepare them to leave. He then went back to Arthur, "Why do you say that?"

"The samples were full of contaminated blood. The Plasmavore is infected with something."

"Arthur, I get that, but infected with what."

"I'm not sure. It's not like something I've seen before, but I do have some good news."

"Anything would be better than a mad blood sucking death carrying plasmavore on the loose." Jake and Rose came running into the room, their gear packed. He led them out of the house toward their cars.

Irritated Arthur continued, "I talked to one of my friends in the chemistry lab at Torchwood. He heard that Julia was delivering a bottle of vaccines."

"Vaccines to what?" Rose started the car soon as ever one was in. She gave the Doctor a significant look, as she did so.

"They had been using alien technology to improve vaccines. Julia was carrying the first batch of them. I think the plasmavore is looking for them. And before you ask, none of the smashed one's we found this morning was ours."

"Oh not good… not good." The Doctor looked to his wife, "Rose, take us back to the warehouse." Then back to Arthur on the mobile, "Artie, meet us at the warehouse. We have to find a needle in a haystack before our 'friend' does." The Doctor snapped the mobile closed.

"Artie, found something. What was it?" Rose asked as she took a turn quickly.

"Trouble," The Doctor leaned again the car window, closing his eyes. He wasn't sure which was more turbulent the stormy sea outside, or the thoughts going through his mind.

Arthur met them outside the warehouse soon as they pulled up. Quietly they made their way to the side door of the warehouse. "Be careful," The Doctor warned as they entered the warehouse.

"What would a plasmavore want with this place?" Jake asked as they passed a pallet of foodstuff.

"This plasamavore isn't a normal one. Whatever it has it is driving it mad, so be alert to anything." Rose comments as she started to shine

"It is going to be hard to hear anything in this storm."

"Can't be helped; we need to stop this thing now before it infects anymore people." The Doctor precedes them into the complex. "Or get's his hands on what ever Julia was carrying."

As they were shining the torches about they heard something 2 aisles over. "Over here!" Jake took off in that direction. The other's right behind him.

As they came around the corner they saw, what they could only assume was the plasmavore. Its head was hairless, its ears tall and pointed, his mouth a spiky maw, its eyes a glistening blood shot red. It snarled at them.

"I can hit it from here." Jake lined up a shot.

"No," The Doctor knocked his gun away. "You hit him, his blood spills everywhere and the whole town could be contaminated."

"Then what?" Jake grumbled.

"Use the tranquilizer darts. Lets chance of blood spillage, ours and it's." Rose kept an eye on it.

It snarled again, and moved rather quickly across the shelving. It's near claw like hands tearing at the item's contents.

"Easy fella, we just want to help you." The Doctor causiously moved towards it. "We will help you find the cure."

It snarled again, and locked eyes with Rose, and licked it's lips.

"Doctor…" Rose started to back up, her weapon at the ready.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" The Doctor tried to get the creatures attention back on him. "You blood sucking twerp. What right do you have to look at her?"

Aside Rose spoke to Jake, "Soon as you get a clear shot take it, but only to put it to sleep. I don't want ANY blood spilled today."

The creature again licked its lips, and turned to Rose, "Hungrey… Hungry…" It kept repeating as it advanced towards them.

Rose couldn't help a shutter at the memory. "Jake, take your shot…"

Soon as Rose blinked the thing pounced, but before it even got half way to her the Doctor managed to tackle it. As they struggled the Plasmavore slashed at the sacks and bags around them, causing a rain of grain, dust and dried things to fall upon them, making the air difficult to breath.

"Jake! Take the Shot!" Rose yelled.

Needing no more prompting Jake took the shot, getting a solid dart into the creature. "Got him!"

The Doctor continued to struggle with the creature but the plasmavore became more wobbly until it just collapsed to the floor.

"Everyone alright?" Jake asked as he got to his feet.

Finally free from the creature the Doctor stood rather wobby. "Rose?" He began to cough in all the dust.

"I'm over here." Rose stood up from behind a pallet of goods.

"I found the plasmavore." Jake nudged it with his foot. "It's unconscious. We should be able to contain it. Arthur better get your samples while you can."

Arthur came in next to the creature pulled out some equipment and began drawing fluids. "Soon as I get fluids I'll increase its sedation so it won't wake up. That way Jake can move it to the local jail. Security can pick it up tomorrow."

"Good…Good." He coughed as he wiped his sweat covered brow, and walked over to hug Rose.

Rose hugged him, but held him back to look at him. "Doctor, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I just need to get a cup of hot tea in me." He gave her a weak smile.

Rose took his hand and held it. "Doctor you are shaking."

"Just the cold," He tried to reassure her. "Artie, how are we on those samples?"

"Just finishing sir." Arthur was starting to zip up his case.

"Good," The Doctor said out of breath. He leaned up against a pallet.

Rose went over and lay a hand on his shoulder, "Doctor, something is wrong."

"Just," He said through clenched teeth, "that thing did a number on me." He showed Rose his shredded jacket sleeves, and deep scratches. "It hurts a lot more than I thought it would."

"Artie…" Rose looked to her medical officer.

"What do you need Rose?" He looked up at her with a smile, but it melted soon as he saw the Doctor. "Doctor…"

"I'm fine Rose." He tried to reassure her, but it didn't do much when he suddenly bent over.

"I THINK something is wrong." The Doctor managed to get out before he collapsed into Rose's arms.

* * *

Author's Note: How is that for a cliff hanger before I go on a nice long vacation? Hey only throw marshmallows and popcorn my way. ::ducks flying objects::


	6. The Secure Ward

Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Dr Who. I am just someone who keeps getting hit by plot bunnies. This is dedicated to my wonderful theatrical friends who keep inspiring me with wonderful ideas and situations. This is set about 11 years after Bad wolf Bay.

When the Doctor collapsed into Roses arms everyone went into action. Arthur and Rose loaded the Doctor into Arthur's vehicle, while Jake unceremoniously tossed the now drooling plasmavore into the back of their land rover. They all headed to St. John's secure entrance. Rose called ahead so that Mathew, and two nurses with gurneys where there to meet them.

With Mathew's help, Arthur carefully maneuvered the semi conscious Doctor out of the back of the land rover, and onto one of the gurneys. "Lay him on the bed."

Soon as he was settled Rose had a firm grip on his hand. The first nurse did a quick check of his vitals, and signaled they were moving. The other stood in their path. "Sir I must insist. He needs to go through A&E."

The first nurse glared at her. "These are security patients, and they are NOT to go through A&E. I have to stay and take care of the other patient. Either you do your job or I'll have you fired Janice."

"What right do you have…" Janice snarled back at her.

"Either you move, or I will move you." Rose snarled at her.

"Be it on your head," She stepped aside so that they could begin running down the corridor to the lift. The first nurse stayed with Jake and Mathew to deal with the Plasmavore.

When they arrived on the correct floor Janice started to turn away, but Rose took hold of her arm. "You saw him so you are going to help."

"On whose authority?" The nurse tried to get out of her grip.

"Mine," Rose showed her credentials. "Now help him."

Janice and Arthur wheeled the Doctor into the same secure ward as Mrs. Harker, and the other victims.

With a quirk of her head Janice jumped in to help Arthur take care of the Doctor. "What's his name?"

"John, his name is John." Rose moved to take his hand. The Doctor cringed in pain, but held her hand in vice grip. "His friends call him Doctor."

"Doctor," the nurse started to hook him up to monitor's. "My name is Janice. Do you know where you are?"

The Doctor closed his eyes in pain, trying to block out the pain each movement done to him caused.

"Doctor, stay with us." Arthur started running tests on him.

"What is wrong with him?" Rose asked from where she stood next to him.

"Rose, you have got to stay back." Arthur pushed rose out of the way so that he could continue to as he assess the Doctor's vitals.

"Rose..." The Doctor said between gasps.

"I'm here." She went to his other side and held his hand.

"His heart rate and blood pressure is elevated." Janice said as she entered information into a machine. "Internal temperature is 101.2, and climbing.

"He's shivering." Rose tried to stay calm for the Doctor.

"That's the fever." Artie turned to the nurse. "Get an IV started."

"Jake, and Nurse Sharron have got the Plasmavore in a heavily secured room in the psych area. They will be along shortly." Matt asked from the doorway. "What are we to do?"

"Watch the door for now." Artie turned to Rose, "Stay with him for now. I'll be right back." Artie left the room quickly.

"Doctor, are you still with me?" Rose tried to get the Doctor to focus on her.

"Yeah…" He looked up at her.

Artie returned carrying a couple IV bags, and a basket of various tubes. "Janice was it?" The nurse looked up from where she just got an IV in. "Start by getting these hooked up," He looked to Rose, "They are an anti-inflammatory and an antibiotic." He sat the basket down on a bedside table, "I need to get blood samples."

"Artie about his…"

"I know." He snapped at Rose, but softened, "I am aware of his physiology. And I will take it into account, but right now I need you to let me do my job. Please."

With a nod Rose stepped out of his way so that he could get blood samples. "Doctor, I'm going to run tests myself. Is there ANYTHING you can think of to cause this?"

The Doctor cringed slightly as Artie moved his arm, "This isn't reacting like anything I've felt before."

"It is almost like when you were regenerating." Rose commented from where she was leaning against the wall."

"Trust me… it's not." The Doctor cringed as Arthur sat his arm back down.

"Doctor, get some rest, and let the medicine do its work." He gave the Doctor a somewhat encouraging smile that didn't reach his eyes as he turned away. "Janice, "I need to get blood samples from everyone."

"Why?" Matt asked.

"If he has contracted something I need to make sure none of the rest of us are infected." He carried the samples away to begin testing.

With the others occupied Rose was able to move closer and move out of team leader mode and into 'worried spouse' mode. She could see the medication start to take a effect as the Doctor seemed to relax

"Guess I'll need a new suit." He tried to give her a pained smile as he indicated the tattered shirt and coat he was wearing.

"Don't you worry about that," She wiped her face, "Worry about Janice over there sticking you in striped pajamas again." He feigned disgust, and looked to where Janice was working. "You wouldn't do that would you?"

"Part of the hospital code, striped pajamas for our worst patients," she gave him a smile, and continued to pull blood from Matt who was sitting on the ward bed next to the Doctor.

"Speaking of which there should be some in the cupboard. If you can get him changed while I deal with this," He indicated the blood work she wad doing, "It would be a great help."

Finally glad there was something she could do Rose fetched the pajamas and returned to the Doctor. She pulled the privacy screen and carefully began removing his tattered clothing.

Trying to distract him Rose started to talk, "Any idea what happened?"

Each time he was forced to move he tensed up in pain. "Arthur is right. That plasmavore is infected with something."

Rose helped him get the pajamas on. "Do you think it infected you?"

"What ever the others have it is from the bite. He only scratched me. This… This is something else." He relaxed into the blankets already shivering more.

Rose pulled the blankets up on him, but he continued to shiver. She brushed his hair out of his eyes, and kissed his forehead. She just stood there holding his hand, trying to give him as much comfort as she could.

From the other side of the screen came Arthur's voice. "You are up Rose," Arthur pushed back the screen, as Janice was putting away the tubes that were Arthurs.

"I'll be right back," Rose kissed his forehead and went over to her.

Artie went over to stand next to the Doctor as if checking the systems. The Doctor whispered up at him, "Arthur something is going on that is more than me."

"We'll find out what it is sir."

The Doctor nodded slightly. "Take care of…"

"I'll keep an eye on her. I promise" He adjusted the flow on the IV a little so that the Doctor could get some sleep.

Rose had sat by him most of the night. She had been there when his fever spiked to 103.1. Janice came a few times to give him more mediation via his IV. Other than to monitor him there was little more anyone could do for him. For now he was sleeping somewhat peacefully. He was no longer shivering like he had been, and the joint pain was now controlled. She had not seen him like this since his regeneration. In Barcelona he had been bad off, but nothing like this.

There was a light knock at his door. Rose turned to see Arthur motioning for her. She stood, and squeezed his hand. Then walked over to where Arthur was, and shut the door. "What is it?"

"I got the first batch of tests back from the lab." He didn't look happy.

"What did you find?" Rose had a feeling she was not going to like what she was about to hear.

"His white cell count is up, even for him. We believe he has a Streptococcus pyogenes infection. The plasmavore had it too. We think he may have been infected then, but there is something else going on. We are running more tests for those." He looked away from Rose for a moment, "Rose, there was one thing that the plasmavore had that I'm really concerned about."

"What is?" Rose felt the fear rise up the back.

"The plasmavore somehow picked up Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease."

"I've heard of that but what is it?"

"It's a typically fatal infection of the central nervous system." Arthur plunged on, "We are not sure if the Plasmavore was the carrier or if it picked it up from one of his victims. I'm running tests to find out."

Rose swallowed, "Then I'm going to go back to my husband." Rose started to walk back off but Arthur grabbed her arm.

"Rose you can't go back in there."

"Oh yes I can!" She said with an edge.

"Rose, your tests came back, and you can't go in that room." Arthur tried to get her to see reason.

"Leave my husband alone while he could be dying, not a chance." Rose started to wrench herself from his grip but he only gripped tighter.

"Rose, I wouldn't stop you if there wasn't more at stake." He forced the test results into her hand, and pointed at a highlighted section.

Rose's eyes bugged, "But that shouldn't…"

"I had it run twice." Arthur sighed, "Now will you listen to me? I wouldn't ask this but …" he gestured at the paper.

Tears crept into Roses eyes as she looked from the paper, and through the observation window at the sleeping Doctor.

Author's Note: As promised here is the next bit. Vacation was nice, despite the drama. Hope you enjoy this chapter.


	7. Waiting out the Storm

Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Dr Who. I am just someone who keeps getting hit by plot bunnies. This is dedicated to my wonderful theatrical friends who keep inspiring me with wonderful ideas and situations. This is set about 11 years after Bad wolf Bay.

* * *

Rose stood at the wards family room's window. Outside the storm raged on. It had been late when they left Westendra Manor, and it was now nearly 4 AM. She was exhausted, but she couldn't get her mind to stop spinning. The Doctor being attacked, then seeing those test results… it was enough to break most people; yet she wasn't most people.

She was still looking out of the window, holding herself when she heard someone on her left clear their throat. She turned to see Mathew standing there with a couple cups of tea.

"I thought you could use that." He handed it to her. "I know you won't drink much of it but it is something to keep your mind off of things." She accepted the cup with a sad smile, and took a careful sip.

"Arthur is worried about you, all of us."

"I'll be alright." She continued to stare out the window into the storm.

"That is what I keep telling myself." Matthew stood next to her looking out the window.

"I just wish…" she sighed. "I just wish there was something I could DO."

"Trust me I understand." He sipped his own tea, "You are doing all you CAN DO at the moment. Arthur said the final test results will be back in another 4 to 5 hours. You said that Torchwood wouldn't be able to get the information we need until morning. Jake said that the storm is messing up the internet and phone connections. "

"There has got to be something I'm missing." She turned around frustrated.

"There most likely is, but you are missing it because you can't think clearly. Rose get some rest." He turned to face her, trying to make her see reason.

"Who are you to say that to me?" She snarled at him. Her already frayed nerves were worn very thin by now.

"I'm the man whose wife is in there dying from the same things your husband is. I am a man who has suffered the same way you have been only mine has been for the past week. You and your team are the only people who can help her. I need you to be sharp and right now you are falling apart. I need your help and quite frankly if are not doing your precious Doctor any good worrying away making yourself sick. If don't get some rest soon Arthur is going to come in here and make you sleep. Take it from someone who had it done to him just last night. You do NOT want that to happen. For not just our sake or the Doctors, but also for your own try to get some rest. Please…"

Normally Rose would have given the guy a tongue lashing he would never forget, but she just didn't have the energy. She sat down on the couch and cried. It wasn't long before Arthur and Jake hurried into the room.

Seeing Rose like that they walked over to Matthew. Before they could ask he spoke up. "She's alight. The day just finally got to her."

Jake sat down next to her and put an arm around her for support.

"You didn't slip her anything did you?" Arthur asked in an angry whisper.

"No, I wouldn't do that to her." Mathew glared down at Arthur. "Unlike SOME people…"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Good, Jake can you..."

"I'll stay with her, but if anything happens…"

"I'll come and get you both." With a gesture of his head Arthur lead Mathew out of the room.

* * *

At about 9 AM that morning the storm managed to let up. Thankfully there wasn't any major damage to the phone lines, and satellite hookups. Things were a little shaky at times but Jake managed to get a hard line to Torchwood London.

During the night the Doctor's condition had improved somewhat. He wasn't in as much joint pain, and his temperature had dropped to 101.0, but he still was not out of the woods yet. Mrs. Harker's fever had broken. She was still very weak but she was doing better. The other patients were showing an improvement as well, though several were still bad off.

Soon as the storm started to let up Rose was up and moving. She still didn't look like she was 100% herself but at least she was looking better.

Jake had a cup of tea waiting for her when she walked into the office Jake had commandeered for their use. "Heard from my father yet?"

"He had the data sent at 7:12 AM this morning. We just got it a few minutes ago. Looks like Miss Julia was a busy person."

"Why do you say that?" Rose pulled a chair over to the desk next to Jake.

"According to our files she was delivering not only vaccines but also drugs that were to be tested on local cattle."

"Do we know which ones?" Rose looked at the screen.

"Her file confirmed that Doctor Parker was the one to administer them, and to guess whose cows?"

"Gregory Finn, our last dead victim."

"Exactly." Jake pulled up the file on Finn. "He had been hit hard by a rash of deaths to his cattle. The local constables looked into it but nothing came of it. Apparently Farmer Finn was known to be a little odd, especially when it came to telling stories about Aliens and creatures from other worlds." Jake tried to sound spooky.

His attempt at humor did make Rose smile a little but it didn't reach her eyes. "Any other connections between our victims?"

"Mrs. Harker and Dr. Parker work with large animals. Amy Fitzpatrick worked in a pharmacy. The others seem really random."

"Did you manage to get anything out of our 'guest'?"

"Artie says the Plasmavore's mind is gone. What ever he has completely addled his mind. His body is filled with toxins. Artie isn't sure the plasmavore could survive even if we find a treatment for whatever he has contracted."

Rose cringed, "I want you to head over to the warehouse and search for those vials. Did Pete's information say where there were hidden?"

"A lot of things were banged up but we will see what we can find. In the mean time Pete is sending a 2nd batch to us, unfortunately it may be several hours. There was a lot of damage to the roads thanks to the storm."

"Just as long as they get here." Rose sighed as she drank the last of her tea, "While you are looking for the vials I'm going to pay Mr. Finn's farm a little visit. Three of our victims are linked to that place. Sounds like a good place to start." Leaving her cup behind she hurried down the hall to where Arthur was just coming out of the ward.

"Any new results Artie?" Rose asked as she saw him walk up the aisle.

"The blood tests on the other victims came back. The first two patients tested positive for Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Mrs. Harker's tests were negative."

"And the Doctors?"

Artie gave her a smile, "His were also negative." He handed her the report.

Rose hugged him tightly. "That's wonderful."

"Rose," Artie pushed her to arms length, "That is the good news. The bad news is that his infection seems to be worsening."

"What do you mean you just said he was fine just an hour ago?"

"He is still having tremors, and his fever is starting to rise again. It is like his body is going on high alert, but I can't find what is setting it off. Unless we can get that under control..."

"He WILL be alright, Arthur." Rose turn to the observation window. "He has to be." As Rose looked in the Doctor turned his head enough so that he could see out the glass window. Rose sadly raised her hand to the glass. He raised his own slightly, as if he was mirroring hers, and then closed his eyes to sleep.

* * *

Author's note: I'm not sure if this answered questions or gave you more to think about. Don't worry there is more to come.


	8. A Twisted Conundrum

Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Dr Who. I am just someone who keeps getting hit by plot bunnies. This is dedicated to my wonderful theatrical friends who keep inspiring me with wonderful ideas and situations. This is set about 11 years after Bad wolf Bay.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Rose pulled up to an older farm house just as a rather beefy man with a gun walked out of the house; put a box of shells into his coat pocket.

"Hey! Where do you think you are going?" Rose shouted as she got out of her rover.

"Who the hell are you?" He snarled.

"I was here to speak with Mrs. Finn." Rose stepped aside of the car door but kept a watchful eye on the man.

"She is in the house." He hurmphed and started toward the barn.

"What are you going to do with that mate?"

"Shoot those bloomn' cows."

"Robert!" An older lady ran out of the house, her nose bloody. "Don't do it!"

"Listen to the lady mate," Rose warned the guy.

"Those things are sickly and filthy, and I'm going to shoot them." The man started to storm back towards the barn, fumbling with the shells trying to load the gun.

"They were your uncles Robert leave them alone." Mrs. Finn came running up to where Rose was.

"Listen mate, I'll give you one more chance to stop before I stop you." Rose carefully bent slightly to pick something up from inside the car.

"What can a little thing like you do to me and my gun?" Robert brought the gun up towards Rose.

"Just this." Rose bought up a small weapon the shot of two attached electrodes that struck him in the chest, sending a current through him causing him to drop like a sack of potatoes.

"What you think the boys let me out by myself with out some sort of protection." With a smirk Rose walked over to him and nudged the gun away from him with her foot. "You are should be glad that we don't kill."

Rose turned to Mrs. Finn. "He the one that bloodied your nose?" Fearfully she nodded.

Robert made to stand but he was wobbly, "I'll have... I'll have the constable after you for that."

"Just try it mate. Assaulting an older woman, threatening another with a gun, attempting to destroy another person's property, sounds like a nice start for your list of charges." Rose glared at him.

"I'll... I'll get you for this..." He stumbled his way down the way toward the road.

With him gone Rose reached down, shouldered the gun, and turned back to Mrs. Finn. "I believe after all this excitement we both could use a cup of tea."

* * *

Once the tea was made the two of them sat down at her kitchen table, "So who was big and creepy?"

"Robert?" Mrs. Finn sat the tea pot down after she filled her cup, "He is my brother's son. When Greg died my brother wanted someone here to help out. Robert's wife just left him, and my brother thought it would good for him to have a new start here."

"How is that working out for him?"

"No one in town will hire him because of his attitude." Mrs. Finn wrapped her hands around her tea cup.

"Can't imagine why." Rose rolled her eyes as she sipped her tea.

"I've been able to take care of the calves, but taking care of the cows has been Robert's responsibility. The other day he was in town and heard someone say that the meat packing plant was offering a good price for meat, even for older dairy cows." She sighed, "I told him that we couldn't sell the cows for meat. Greg said that with the weird things going on he didn't want to expose anyone to anything."

"Smart man, but what did Robert do?"

"Called the buyer out yesterday, before the storm, to look at the herd. He offered a nice bit of money for my calves, but he would have to get back to us about our cows."

"Let me guess he just got the news when I drove up."

"The broker called 15 minutes before. Apparently our herd has Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. They are worthless."

"I'm sorry." Rose squeezed her hand.

"Robert was furious. When I tried to stop him from going out there and killing all the cows he hit me, and you know the rest from there."

"Did Greg know about the sick cows?"

"I suppose so. He had been working with Doc Parker on getting a new treatment for them. If it worked then they might be cured. Greg said worst case the research people supplying the medicine would pay for the cows at market value, and help us get new ones. It's not ideal but it was a fair deal."

Rose mumbled behind her tea cup, "Sounds like a deal dad would make," then to Mrs. Finn, "The records show that you had been having problems with people injuring your cows?"

"Greg swore it was aliens, in fact he was out in the pasture the night he died trying to catch who had been doing it."

"What had been happening to them?"

"For a few months now cows would go down like they were really weak but with no real signs of illness, but it started to get worse."

"How so?"

"One morning he found one of cows near death, its gums sheet white. He had to put it down."

"Is that when you called in Doc Parker?"

"That is when the Doc started to think this wasn't just stupid kids. A few days later we found another cow, drained completely of blood, but no sign of damage."

"How many times did this happen?"

"We lost 5 cows, the last was caving. We managed to save the calf but not the mother."

"No wonder your husband was upset. That had to be what, 3,000 pounds worth of damage?"

"At least. " Mrs. Finn sighed. "I wish I knew what happened out there."

Rose was beginning to get an idea. "Did you see any odd people around?"

"Not really. Mrs. Dickerson, over at Bedlam farm hired a handy man to help around her farm. Randal, I think his name was. She hasn't seen him for about a month. The local constables thought he was involved in Greg's death but nothing came of it. Randal just… vanished."

"I'm sure he is fine where ever he is." Rose gave her a reassuring smile, but Rose's gut told her that 'Randal' was their plasmavore back at the hospital.

Mrs. Finn looked at Rose oddly, "I'm sorry with everything happened I forgot to ask, what is it that brought you to my home."

"Oh sorry," Rose brought out her credentials, "I work for the research group that was working with your husband. The shipment of medication that was for your cows was delayed. We wanted to let you know that more is being sent, and should be here in a couple days."

"You could have done that by phone my dear, "she gave Rose a significant look. "What really brought you here?" She stood and put her cup in the sink.

Rose stood and made her way to the door, "We are looking into a series off deaths, including your husbands. We were curious if there was anything else you can tell us."

"Things are as they are." Mrs. Finn shrugged as she followed Rose out onto the porch.

"Be that as it may," Rose handed her a business card. "That is a contact at our research firm. We will honor the agreement with your husband. Oh, and if you think of anything feel free to call me. My number is on the back." Rose stood on the steps of the porch.

"Thank you." She slipped the card into her apron. "And thank you…" Mrs. Finn looked up and gasped.

Rose spun around to see Robert storming up the drive way with two police constables.

"There she is that … that…" Robert sputtered as he charged toward Rose.

"Stand back sir and let us take care of this." A constable tried to move between Rose and Robert.

"She assaulted me!" He shouted.

"Mame, this er...gentelman claims you asslated him."

"Only after he threatened me with a rifle, and attempted to slaughter the cattle that my company leased from Mrs. Finn."

"Do you have proof of this mame?" The other asked trying to keep Robert from rushing Rose.

"I have the papers my husband has on the ownership of our cows and the contracts he had with the research group." Mrs. Finn said from the steps.

The second constable turned towards Robert, "Is this true sir?"

"I... I… they are worthless diseased animals. I would be doing her a favor putting those THINGS out of their misery." He bellowed.

"Constable, the cows have Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, and correct me if I'm wrong, but improper slaughtering of the animals could cause an area wide epidemic."

"You are correct mame." They moved to restrain Robert who was now shouting threats at Rose and Mrs. Finn.

"Oh and I believe Mrs. Finn said she wanted to add assault charges." Rose indicated the bruises on Mrs. Finn's face. "When I arrived he had just finished beating her."

"How dare you...you…" Robert jerked out of the constable's grasp and charged at Rose, who side stepped him.

"Alright that is it! I'm taking you sir down to the station." The restrained Robert, and moved him back down the driveway.

"I'm sorry Mame, but can I see some ID from you." The first constable asked.

Rose pulled out her credentials, and showed them to them. Upon seeing them he raised his eyebrows. "Ah, that would explain a lot." He handed them back to her. "I trust that if we have any questions we will be able to find you?"

"You can find me at St. John's Hospital, in the secure ward. My team is working out of there." Rose put her ID away. The constable tipped his had and went to assist his partner with a still blustering Robert.

She walked back up to Mrs. Finn. They no more looked at each other before they both started laughing. With all that had happened all they could do was laugh in relief. When they could breath again Mrs. Finn asked, "How can I thank you for your help today?"

"Don't worry about it." Rose sighed. "It's what we do."

"I must be able to do SOMETHING." Mrs. Finn pleaded.

The confidence she had been hiding behind cracked a little, "Pray… pray for those who we are trying to help. Maybe something you have told me today can save them." Rose got into her Rover.

"I will." Mrs. Finn waved from the porch.

Rose shut the door and started the car. She hoped that Mrs. Finn couldn't see her tears.

* * *

It wasn't long before Rose was back and the hospital. As she got off the elevator she was met by Jake.

"What did you find at the warehouse?" Rose asked as they walked.

"Once I learned where to look, I was able to find the vials. Thankfully none were damaged. Arthur is having them analyzed as we speak."

"Good to hear," Rose showed her ID to the guard at the ward's door, and entered. "How is the Doctor?"

"According to Arthur and Nurse Sharron, he is stabilized for now." Jake walked with her until they came to the window to the Doctor's room. She could see him sleeping. The monitors showed his steady single heart beat. She laid a hand on the window for a moment then walked on.

"Arthur is in the office if you are looking for him." Jake supplied.

"Good, I have more information for him. I think I may have identified our plasmavore."

* * *

"To sum up you think that 'Randal' is our plasmavore and that he got the Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease from the cows?" Arthur raised an eyebrow at her.

"It is standard procedure for a plasmavore to stay off our radar. They can sustain themselves on the blood of cattle. It's like us eating mince everyday. Not high class cuisine, but it is food."

"Then why the other victims?" Jake asked.

"Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease can be treated, some what if caught early." Arthur supplied, "It is possible that Randal went looking for a cure."

"He was a monster when we found him at the warehouse." Jake glared, "Not exactly a rational mind."

"This might explain the victims." Arthur mumbled aloud, and then brought up something on the laptop. Rose and Jake moved around to look at what he was doing. "Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease causes mental confusion, and hallucinations."

"I thought that was only in the later stages?" Rose asked.

"It does, but you are talking about a creature that was drinking how many liters of contaminated cow fluids?"

Rose grimaced, "Ok he is confused and hallucinating, and how does that point to the victims."

"Nicolas Flowler was opening the back early the morning he was attacked. He had to be at the back before dawn. He is known for trying to help out the less fortunate. What if he…"

"Saw Randal stumbling around in confusion and tried to help him thinking he is just a drunk homeless guy." Rose cut in.

"Exactly. Randal must have been starving and with all that warm blood so near by he just... snapped."

"And attacked Nick, but in influx of new blood helped him regain his senses. Realizing what he had done, he stopped before killing Nick, and ran off."

"So what about Amy?" Rose pointed out.

"Same sort of thing. He must have broken into the pharmacy with her there or something trying to find a cure. Again he snapped and attacked her."

"The poor bastard was trying to find some way to help himself and ended up nearly killing the girl." Jack slopped down into a chair. "And by now he was really getting messed up."

"By now the nausea, extreme hallucinations, the spiking blood pressures must have been driving him mad."

"This is why he attacked that Kelsie girl. Just was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Arthur sighed.

Jake commented, "So what about Mrs. Harker and Doc Parker?"

"Doc Parker was a vet who was out working with cows. Mrs. Harker was out looking in on a pregnant mare. Both were out there with large animals."

"Not just large animals, large animals who are pregnant." Rose stood up and paced the floor.

"I don't' get it," Jake looked at her odd, "What does that have to do with it?"

"Jake, during pregnancy the female's body produces extra blood. Often times it is richer in vitamins and antibodies than the blood of normal animals." Arthur supplied.

"He was till looking for a cure but the blood lust drove him to feed." Jake got to his feet.

"He went for the richest source of blood, the pregnant females." Rose started to get excited.

"But the Doc and Mrs. Harker got in the way." Arthur made the connection.

"Ok that explains our living victims, but not our dead ones." Frustrated Jake sat back down.

"Gregory Finn was out in the fields with his cows, and after re running his toxicology screenings from his autopsy we found that he signs of the virus that causes Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease." Arthur pulled up the file on the computer.

"So Finn was infected then, but what about the others?" Rose asked

"Neither of them came back positive." Arthur confirmed on the computer.

"That doesn't make sense," Rose looked at him confused. "Why would Randal kill the other two when he is out munching happily on his neighbor's cows?"

"Does pose a conundr…" Arthur managed to get out before the door to the office slammed open.

"Arthur, we need your help. Something is wrong with the Doctor!" Nurse Sharron said out of breath from the doorway.

* * *

Author's Note: I know, I know another cliffhanger, but at least I gave you a couple more answers. (I hope.)


	9. Painful Discoveries

Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Dr Who. I am just someone who keeps getting hit by plot bunnies. This is dedicated to my wonderful theatrical friends who keep inspiring me with wonderful ideas and situations. This is set about 11 years after Bad wolf Bay.

Arthur barreled his way out of the office with Rose right behind him. The found another nurse trying to restrain a screaming Doctor.

"What's going on?" Arthur shouted as he jumped in.

"He was fine then all of a sudden his blood pressure started to spike again. Then clutched his stomach and vomited over the side of the bed. His heart rate is all over the place and I can't get him to calm down!" The nurse shouted to Arthur.

Rose stepped up and grabbed his hand, making him look at her. "Doctor, look at me. We are trying to help."

He arched his back screaming but tried to focus on her. "Pain…."

"Give him something for the pain." Rose shouted at Arthur.

"You can't. Nurse Janice gave him pain killers not 15 minutes ago." Tried to restrain the Doctor's other arm.

Rose read the name tag on her chest, "Nurse Betty is it?" The woman nodded, "I don't give a DAMM about what Janice gave him because it is NOT working. Now give him something for the pain now!"

She looked to Arthur, who nodded, and went and got a syringe. Keeping his eyes locked with Rose's he injected it into his IV bag.

The Doctor still clutched his stomach but he seemed to relax. Rose and Sharron were able to let go of his arms, as he sunk back into the bed.

"What happened Doctor?"

"It… it was like my whole insides were on fire." He was still involuntary shaking. "It was like something was burning me from the inside out." Rose kept holding his hand. He closed his eyes for a moment and locked eyes with Rose again. "And trust me I do KNOW how that feels." He gave her a smile, trying to make her feel better.

Rose gave him a cheery smile, but didn't work. "You need to get better. You promised to be at James 1st soccer game, remember?"

"He... He wouldn't let forget it." He said the pain showing on his face.

Rose looked to Arthur, "Can't you do anything more for him?"

"I don't want to over load his system with pain killers." Arthur gave her a sympathetic look.

"Arthur, please…" She begged.

Arthur kept wanting to say something but couldn't. It wasn't until the Doctor spoke up himself that Arthur was able to speak. "Arthur, I can handle it, but do something or there many not be a next time." The Doctor said out of breath, though gritted teeth.

"Alright, but..." He looked to Rose, "Doctor, you will be in a partial coma. If you have another…"

"Arthur… just do it." The Doctor locked eyes with the man.

Arthur nodded, closed the blinds on the window, "I'll be right back then." Arthur left the two of them alone.

"Are you sure about this?" Rose asked, holding his hand tighter.

"I believe in you Rose." He said out of breath, "Find what is causing this." He tugged her hand for her to her to come closer. When she was nose to nose with him, he whispered, "I have faith in you Rose." Then gently kissed her.

By then Arthur had returned, and cleared his throat to get their attention. "If there is anything else you want say before this drug takes effect. I suggest you do it now." Arthur walked over and began the injection. The Doctor's eyes began to droop almost instantly.

With a watery smile Rose leaned over and whispered something into his ear just as he was going unconscious. He smiled as she did so, and then was asleep.

Rose wiped her tears with her hands. Arthur handed her a handkerchief, as he went to open the shades. "Take all the time you need." Arthur squeezed her shoulder as he left. Rose sat there for a long time just listening to him sleep, hoping she could live up to the faith he had in her.

A few hours later a very weary Rose came in to the office where the others were. They were just going over some reports.

"Anything new?"

"Some, but first," Arthur put a sandwich and a glass of milk in front of her. "You are going to eat that."

"I'm not really hungry." Rose started to push it away.

"Rose," He said a little sharply, which got her to glare up at him. "You are not doing anyone any good by doing this to yourself now, EAT!"

Rolling her eyes Rose took a few bites of the sandwich. "I didn't expect to be ganged up on in here."

"How is that?" Jake asked.

"Mathew came into the Doctor's room and told me to walk away for a while. He wouldn't take no for an answer."

"I knew I liked that guy." Jake smirked.

"The only way I would leave was when Matt volunteered to say with the Doctor. He will alert me if anything happens." She took a drink of the milk, and made a face.

"It's good for you , so stop grousing," Arthur smirked, "Well like I promised, we did get more information back from Torchwood it's self."

"And?" Rose asked between bites.

"Pete managed to get the manifest of our crashed ship." Jake held up a file.

"I thought all records had been erased."

"They had," Jake leaned back in his chair, "But Pete was able to get a manifest from our crashed ship's last port."

"Which was where?"

"In the Adriatic Sea; they were transporting artifacts for a new Slovenian historical exhibit at the national museum. They had a crew of 9." Jake laid out the documents on the desk.

"The Museum received the goods through customs. The port authority shows they processed in all 10 of the crew." Jake noted a few points.

"10?" Rose looked up at him oddly.

"Yes 10," He continued, "The ship then loaded with farming goods for a short hop to some of the smaller harbors."

"Why was Julia on the boat?"

"That is something I learned from the Torchwood gossip network." Arthur spun in his chair, "Julia had a boyfriend who was also a sailor. It happens that he managed to get a berth on this same ship."

"So she hopped a ride on his ship in order to spend more time with him." She sat the sandwich aside, only half eaten. "So she was our mysterious 10th person?"

"No, she was the 11th." Jake handed Rose the file, "Several of the crew didn't like her along, but she went along any way."

"And someone among the crew managed to sabotage the ship, kill the whole crew, BUT Julia, and run it aground." Rose looked at him baffled.

"That pretty much sums it up." Jake leaned back in the office chair.

"Julia, what did you stumbled over that got you killed?" Rose picked up Julia's file.

After a couple of non-productive hours, and phone call to her family Rose returned to the Doctor's room. She had expected Arthur to argue with her about her being in there but none came. He had fetched a blanket and pillow so that she could stay with the Doctor and still get some rest. She had maybe slept 3 hours or so before something woke her. She looked up to see Nurse Janice entering the room.

"Oh sorry, didn't mean to wake you. I was just bringing him his next dosage of pain medication." She showed her a syringe.

"Arthur gave him a dose of medication to keep him in his coma just three hours ago. I don't think the Doctor needs that one." Rose indicated the one in Janice's hand."

"Oh, alright." She started to head back out the door, "I'll just make a note of it on his chart." She quickly left.

Stretching Rose stood up, and brushed a bit of hair off the Doctor's face and kissed his forehead. A light tapping at the door made her turn.

"I wondered how long you were going to stay asleep." Matthew gave a bit a smile.

Laying a finger to her lips she walked over to the door, and quietly shut it. "Arthur said that though he is keeping him unconscious we don't want to stress him too much. What is it?"

"Arthur said that the victims are doing a lot better and should be able to go home today."

"Including Josey?" Rose asked hopeful.

"Including her." Matthew smiled down at Rose, who gave him a big hug. "Arthur said that their red blood counts have stayed constant for the past two days and they should be fine now. They are no longer having any other neurological problems." When he let Rose go he saw she was frowning. "Something wrong?"

"You said there was something wrong with their blood cell counts. What was it?"

"The victims have been fluctuating red blood cell counts. They would do fine then plummet. It was never enough to kill them but their healing process was been severely stunted," Matt looked at her confused. "Is there something wrong?"

"Maybe," Rose turned away thinking, "Matt could you stay with the Doctor?"

"Sure, why?"

"I don't want ANY ONE but Arthur administering drugs, doing test on him, no one but Arthur. I don't care if it is one of our nurses or not. NOTHING is done to the Doctor with out Arthur doing it. Understand?" Rose had glint in his eye that she was NOT to be crossed.

"Sure," He looked at her slightly afraid.

Rose took off down the hallway to the office, and burst through the door, causing Arthur to spill his tea all down his front.

"Rose! What's wrong?" He began wiping the tea off his jumper.

"Something is going on." Rose hurried over to the computer. "I need to see patient records."

"Huh?" Arthur looked at her confused.

"I need to see what procedures have been done to our victims." She looked at him somewhat hopeful.

He shrugged, and keyed up the file for each of the victims. "What exactly are you looking for?"

"A reason why they were loosing blood." Rose scanned the files for a couple moments before she pointed at something, "All of the patients had blood tests ever couple days."

"The doctors were trying to find out what was causing their illness." Arthur look at Rose like she was mad.

"Their bills show that they had a ," Rose pointed at a charge, "Blood donation draw kit… used every week on them the entire week of their stay."

"Huh?" Arthur pushed her out of the way and sat down at the computer. "Why would they need to draw that quantity of blood?"

"Each of those charges to their accounts coincides in a drop in their blood pressure and red blood cell count. However the lab work shows only general blood samples were taken. The blood bag never made it to the lab."

Arthur looked up at her in stunned confusion. Rose continued, "If you notice, all of our victims have been recovering at an amazing rate since we brought the Doctor in to the ward."

"That shouldn't have happened." Arthur tried to pull us a correlation.

"When the Doctor came into the ward security increased. The victims were being monitored more closely. Who ever was stealing their blood couldn't do it with us watching." Rose leaned again the desk.

"But why do it in the first place." Arthur ran his hand through his hair, then put his face in his hands so that his voice was muffled, "I mean they had a good racket going until the Doctor checked in."

"Just their luck the Doctor…." Rose paled for a moment.

Arthur looked up at her, "You alright?"

"Yeah… fine," She began to look very worried, "Artie, what medications have you been giving the Doctor?"

"Pardon?"

"I need to see the Doctor's chart. What medications have you prescribed for the Doctor?"

Mumbling about meddling spouses Arthur brought up the Doctor's chart. "There you go."

"What are these?" She indicated certain drugs.

Arthur looked over her shoulder, "Those are his anti inflammatory, and pain killers."

"Arthur, you stopped giving those to him yesterday. He hasn't had joint pain since then." Rose looked up at him stubbornly.

"Then why?" Arthur looked back and forth between Rose and screen.

"It says here that he was getting anti-inflammatory medication every 2 hours for 16 hours, then stopped for 8, then they started again for another 8 hours, why?" Rose pointed down at the screen.

Arthur sat up straighter in his chair. "He only was to have them the first twelve hours." He started pulling things up. "The pharmacy shows that we stopped drawing them after the first 12 hours."

"Then what was he given?" Rose asked. "If his chart is saying anti-inflammatory drugs were given to him, but none came from the pharmacy, what was given to him?"

"Good question." Arthur changed screens, "He started having complications not long after each dosage."

"Someone was poisoning him?" Rose nearly screeched.

"Who ever is doing this seems to be giving him high, but not enough to do serious damage to him, then administering a large dose, possibly to multiply the damage."

"His friends asked for something to make him more confortable while they try to kill him." Rose snapped.

"Pretty much," Arthur brought up a different screen.

"What are you looking for?"

"We know when the drugs were administered and we know, thanks to the higher security who was in the ward at the time. I'm hoping to find out who was dosing him."

"Shouldn't the medical records show that?"

"They should but they don't, which mean this person knows a lot more than I thought." Arthur got to a screen. "Found them."

Rose nearly shoved him out of his chair as she spun around to see the screen, "Who did it?" Arthur pointed at a name. "Why would they…"

"Hell if I know, but they were the one's to give him the drug." Arthur tapped the screen.

"To think I trusted that… that…" Rose slammed her hand hard onto the desk. "Do you know what they were giving him?"

"No," Arthur turned in the chair to face her, "put I know where to start looking, and promise you Rose. No more harm will come to him if I have any say in it."

Author's note: I was debating how quickly I should post this as I had not gotten any reviews of my last chapter. Do I wait and keep you on the edge of your seat, or do I post it so you have a happy weekend. Guess what I decided upon. Please review, good or bad I appreciate the comments.


	10. Death by Trusted Hands

Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Dr Who. I am just someone who keeps getting hit by plot bunnies. This is dedicated to my wonderful theatrical friends who keep inspiring me with wonderful ideas and situations. This is set about 11 years after Bad wolf Bay.

* * *

Arthur nodded to Jake as he entered the Doctor's room. Quietly he walked over to the Doctor and found that he was partially awake.

"Hey… I didn't expect you to be awake yet." Arthur sat the basket of test tubes down on the bedside table.

"Where is Rose?" The Doctor asked weakly.

"She is out trying to find the bastard who did this to you." Arthur didn't look at him as he adjusted some of the machines.

"You always were a terrible liar." The Doctor tried to move to get up.

Arthur laid a hand on his chest to stop him. "I didn't lie, but I didn't tell you everything." Arthur sighed, "We think there may be a second plasmavore out there. Rose is tracking it down."

The Doctor just didn't have the strength to force past him. "What is really going on Artie?"

"How much do you trust me? Trust Rose?" Arthur looked him in the eyes, but then down at where he was drawing blood.

"I always… trust Rose." The Doctor looked up at him, but he was loosing focus again.

"Doctor," Arthur leaned over the bed, "I need you to understand this." The Doctor nodded, "We need to do something, but…" He licked his lips, "If we do this you have to trust Rose. If we find what I think we will in your blood, what is coming ahead is going to be a rough one."

The Doctor forced his eyes open, "Do it…"

"I'm applying the medications Doctor," Arthur injected him with a couple of things, and then squeezed his hand. "Good Luck Doctor."

Taking a deep breath, the Doctor relaxed asleep.

* * *

"How are our patients tonight?" Nurse Janice asked Betty as she was leaving the Nurses desk.

"They sent home 4 of the patients this afternoon. The only one left is Dr. Smith." Nurse Sharron said as she walked up to the desk.

"I had thought he would have gone home as well." Janice put her purse into a drawer and locked it.

"So did I," Betty leaned on the desk, "He was doing so well when I came on duty then crashed hard. He has been in a coma ever since."

"Poor man." Sharron shook her head.

"Betty you better hurry, you don't want to miss your bus." Janice took a seat in a chair and pulled up the Dr. Smith's chart.

Betty waved goodbye as she left. Soon as she was out of ear shot Janice leaned over and whispered to Sharron, "How bad off is the Dr. Smith, really?"

"Dr. Skyler put him on even more heart rate and blood pressure medication, and he is now on an oxygen mask. He is lucky to be alive, but I'm not sure how much of a life he will have if he survives this."

* * *

Janice began her rounds like normal. To be honest it was over kill to have two nurses on duty at the same time when they only had patient now. She had thought at least Mrs. Westenra would have been there when she returned. She had been as ill as the Doctor when she came in, yet she was gone as well. The ward was eerily quiet.

She stopped and looked in the window to Doctor John Smith's room. His wife was leaving on the side of the bed, her arms like she was praying her head touching her hands. She looked tired, and drained. With a sigh she knocked on the door to the Doctor's private room. A quiet, "Enter" acknowledged her as she entered.

"How are you doing this evening Rose?" Janice asked as she checked the settings on the Doctor's machines and the amount left in his saline IV's.

Rose stretched, and sighed, "He is getting worse. That last episode…" She choked up. "Well I'm just glad he is still here."

Turning around Janice gave her a smile, "Thank goodness for small blessings. Now," Janice stopped at the foot of the Doctor's bed and made a note on his chart there, "You get some rest yourself. I'll be in later for his next dose of medication."

Rose nodded as she buried her face in her hands. All of this was just getting too much for her.

* * *

Arthur jogged up to the nurses' station where Sharron was working.

"Can I do something for you Arthur?"

"Yes, can you tell me if the toxicology screens I sent down to the labs have come back yet?"

"Let me check." Sharron logged into the system and pulled up the lab screens. "Yes they are finished and should be in your file box."

"Excellent." Arthur smiled at her, "Can you see the results on your screen?"

"Yes, did you want to see them?" She asked as she turned the screen towards him.

"Thank you." Arthur started reading the results, and quirked a smile as he come to something. "Yes, that is what I thought."

"Everything alright sir?" Sharron asked.

"Yes, I think we may have found what we are looking for."

"And what was that sir?" Sharron asked curious.

"Oh but that would be cheating." He gave her an odd smile and then walked away leaving Sharron very confused.

* * *

Seeing no one in the Doctor's room Sharron entered the room quietly drawing the shades. From the little light that was still in the room she went over to the Doctor and began taking his vitals. She then made a note in his chart. After checking his IV she left, and returned with a syringe. As she was about to administer it Jake stepped out of the shadows, startling her.

"Jake!" She clutched her chest, "You scared me! What were you doing there?"

"Just keeping an eye on the Doctor for Rose. What were you doing?"

"Oh," She looked at him surprised, "his chart said that he was due for another dose of medication." She showed him the syringe.

"Arthur left orders with Nurse Betty that only HE was to administer medications to the Doctor."

"Oh, sorry, I must have missed that in his file." Sharron made her way towards the door.

"I just want to make sure procedures are followed. You understand." Jake tiled his head.

"Of course." Sharron opened the door, "I'll… I'll just go speak to Dr. Skyler then." With a shutter she left, leaving Jake and the Doctor alone.

* * *

All in all it had been a quiet night. Rose had spent most of the night asleep in the chair next to the Doctor, leaving only to use the rest room. Jake had stayed by the door most of the time, greeting each person that entered with a nod. Arthur had been in and out frequently checking things, and such.

Sharron had gone home four hours ago, and Betty would be back on the ward in another hour. With so few patients things had been almost boring to say the least. The only real sound was the noise made by the heart monitor, and breathing machine in the Doctor's room. Otherwise the ward was silent.

At about 7 AM Rose had gone down to the canteen to get breakfast. Arthur was in their commandeered office doing who knows what. Hopefully getting some sleep. Jake was up at the main doors chatting with the guards there. Seeing it was time for her final rounds before heading out Janice picked up her things and made her way towards the Doctor's room.

Quietly she opened the door and slipped in. The Doctor was still in his drug induced comma. The breathing machine showed he was breathing but only barely. His heart was beating but it was showing occasional erratic beats. In all honesty he man was not in good shape at all. Who would have thought that he would have such complications from his Streptococcus pyogenes infection? It is such a sad thing, but it was the way of things.

Checking his chart Janice made a note, and then walked up to his IV port, and withdrew a syringe. The man didn't move at all, "I must say Dr. John Smith you are a much hardier man than I give you credit for." She inserted the needle. "Most people's minds can't take the pain. Pity your mind is much stronger than your fragile human body."

At that the Doctor opened his eyes.

"Oh, awake are we?" She gave him a wicked smile, "Pity, you will see the one who kills you. Most of my victims do not get that opportunity." He depressed the plunger.

"I know… what you …are." He got out around the mask he was wearing.

"Too bad you won't be able to tell any one." She gloated as she inserted another syringe, and pressed the plunger.

"I… will …stop you…" He said weakly.

"Ha," She made sure no evidence of her being there was left, as she walked towards the door, her back to him. "You are a dead man Doctor Smith. You died from heart failure due to your injuries from being attacked by the mad man. Such a pity, I'm sure there will be a lovely funeral."

She was half way to the door when everything changed.

"Oh I'm sure; I'll have a lovely one. But it won't" A heavy stress was put on the "T", "Be today Janice."

"What the bloody…" Janice turned around to see the Doctor sitting up in bed, pulling the breathing mask off is face.

"You should be dying…" She looked at him astonished.

"Nope" He popped the P as he finished unhooking himself. "Kind of hard to inject someone's IV full of a deadly concoction when the thing isn't even connected to them."

"Then I will have to kill you the old fashion way." Eyes going wild Janice advanced toward the Doctor, only to come up short when Jake stepped out from behind another bed's curtain.

"I wouldn't do that lady, and I use that term lightly."

"How dare you!" She snarled, her once sweet demure gone.

"Didn't expect to find people who knew what you were, did you?" The Doctor slowly walked up to her.

"These small town idiots wouldn't know what was right in front of them."

"Until we came along." Rose walked up behind her from the door; restraining cuffs at the ready to put on her. "Arthur it is clear for you to come in." Rose called back to Arthur who was just outside in the hallway.

"He just had to go and make a mess of it didn't he." Janice spat as Rose locked the cuffs on her.

"Of all the places you could end up, you had to end up where another plasmavore was already using." The Doctor leaned against the side of the bed, his arms crossed.

Arthur hurried over to where the Doctor was to check to see what exactly Janice had attempted to do.

"Why did you come here?" The Doctor demanded as Jake took control of her, so Rose could go to the Doctor.

"I was on a yacht off the coast of Sicily. There was a bad storm and our ship capsized. The RSS Carffax picked up our distress signal. I was the only one to survive. The crew took me in and helped me make it to London."

"Only you didn't count into running into Julia."

"That little know it all." Janice spat, "I had been sipping from all of the crew. What man doesn't enjoy a little neck nibble." She gave the Doctor a wicked seductive smile, which only made Rose glare at her more. "Julia managed to put together what I had been doing, and what I was. She was going to report me, only I got to her first. Just as the storm was starting I pushed her overboard. No one noticed due to the severity of the storm, but then that boyfriend of hers got suspicious of me. The storm knocked out all of their communication, but her boyfriend was determined. By now I hadn't eaten anything in days, and I was starving. If it looked like a simple ship wreck lost in a storm I would be free to do as I pleased."

"What did you do to them?" Jake shook her by her restraints.

"I sabotaged the ship, and in the mist and the storm I began to feed. You would be amazed what a man will do when he is terrified. She said in a sultry tone, which only made Jake more disgusted. "Sadly the captain wasn't so easy to deter. He was not going to let the storm take his ship. The idiot tied himself to the wheel of the ship. Still he made for a healthy meal." She licked her lips. That got the Doctor to look disgusted for a moment.

"How did your survive the grounding?"

"Wasn't hard, you survive one ship wreck you survive them all." She shrugged.

"You killed Julia and the fisherman, not Randal." Rose accused her.

"The fisherman saw me come out of the ship. Everyone had to think ALL crew had died. He was a liability," she licked her lips, "And was delicious."

Rose turned a little green at that, "And what of Julia?"

"Ha, I took the nursing job here. Who would think to look for me here? I'm a blood specialist. I can get all I want here, just so long as I don't take too much from the living. Unfortunately, look who showed up here at my hospital, that little twit; thankfully she didn't remember anything. When her doctor asked one of us to go and check on her I happily volunteered. She would have been fine, but she let slip that she was regaining her memory. She made for a nice snack." Janice laughed.

"Then Randal's victims started showing up." The Doctor eyed the woman.

"That fool drank the wrong person dry, and it cost him. How could he be so stupid to gorge himself on the blood of that stupid farmer and his cattle?"

"An Occupational hazard that brought us to you." The Doctor glared at her.

"Yes, but you why couldn't you have just left everything alone?" She sneered at them.

"That is not the type of person that I am." The Doctor said dryly.

"But your little group had to go snooping."

"And you tried to kill the Doctor to divert attention from yourself." Rose snarled at her, the Doctor laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Kill their leader, and they will run away." She narrowed her eyes at them, "How was I to know that he was a stronger man than I gave him credit for." She let herself be dragged from the room by Jake.

* * *

Author's Note: A few more questions answer. Just one more chapter left. Hope you are enjoying the story. If so please let me know via a review.


	11. The Ending and Begining of an Adventure

Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Dr Who. I am just someone who keeps getting hit by plot bunnies. This is dedicated to my wonderful theatrical friends who keep inspiring me with wonderful ideas and situations. This is set about 11 years after Bad wolf Bay.

* * *

A little while later the Doctor was stiffly finishing getting dressed. Arthur had given him the all clear but he still was going to be out of commission for at least another 3-4 days.

"What was in the syringe?" Jake asked. The creature collection team had arrived from Torchwood, and was dealing with Randal and Janice. Randal was doing a lot better now that serum that Julia had been carrying had been found. He would never be completely right in the head, but he would live. Not only would Randal be saved, but so would the cows it was meant for.

"It was a concentrated extract of serotonin." Arthur was sitting on a chair backwards.

"What does that do?" Jake raised an eyebrow.

"In small quantities it helps people concentrate better." Arthur explained.

The Doctor pushed the screen aside, and sat on the bed so he could slip his trainers on. "In concentrated high doses it puts the body in high gear, fevers, mental confusion, abdominal issues, and excruciating pain." The Doctor shuttered slightly. "Many creatures use it for self defense. Shoot a predator with a spine full of the stuff, and they will be in so much pain they will never mess with that creature again."

"Doctor's call an over dose of serotonin, Serotonin syndrome. Typically it isn't a big deal in small dozes but in some cases it can be deadly." Arthur said seriously.

"Then what happened at the warehouse, she couldn't have poisoned you there." Rose looked at the Doctor curiously.

Arthur stiffed a chuckle, and looked to the Doctor to explain.

He glared at Arthur but answered Rose. "That would be my fault."

"Oh?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Mrs. Harker been pouring herbal teas down our throats the minute we walked in the door. The only tea in the manor was her special blends of herbal teas..."

"So?" Rose shrugged.

To save the Doctor Arthur continued, "Most of the teas that she had in her house contained St. John's wart, ginseng, and some natural nutmeg." Seeing Rose's confusion Arthur continued. "Most of the herbs in the teas contained a serotonin booster or serotonin it's self."

"And we were drinking all that tea," Rose started to grin.

"Must have had a large amount in my system when we went to warehouse, so when the herbs in the warehouse became airborne…" He shrugged, "I had a reaction."

"No more herbal tea for you, Mister." Rose teased. The Doctor rolled his eyes. Rose laughed a bit but then remembered something. "Arthur, you said that he had an infection when he came in."

"He did; Streptococcus pyogenes." Arthur explained, "Only it wasn't as serious as I thought. To be honest he may have had it before he even came in contact with the plasmavore."

"You really did have the sniffles didn't you?" Rose teased.

"It would seem that way. I can't fault Arthur for mistaking the reaction for a bad infection. Most of the symptoms of my body processing through the serotonin are the same of me fighting a bad infection. Nurse Janice had been secretly keeping him supplied with the serotonin it to keep me out of action."

"She did a good job of it." Rose sighed. The past few days were really wearing on her. She had already been ill herself before this whole thing started, and now it was catching up on her. "What now Arthur?"

"To start with, no more herbal teas for a long while for one," Arthur couldn't help one last poke, then became serious, "I'd say a week's worth of bed rest at home. And I would also say for you to take it easy for a while yourself Ms. Rose." He gave Rose a significant look.

"Artie… Jake wasn't there something you needed to take care of?" Rose cleared her throat.

With an elbow in the ribs from Jake, Arthur jumped, "Yes, we will finish debriefing Sharron and Betty, and then uh see you back at the Westendra house?"

"We will meet you there." Rose smiled at them. With a wave Jake and Arthur left the two of them alone.

The Doctor squeezed her hand to bring her attention back to him. "Now I seem to remember something whispered in my ear as Arthur was putting me into that coma. Now was it just the pain and fever or did I hear you correctly?" He gave her a smirk.

"It depends on what you heard. A lot was said while you were being treated." She smirked, and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck.

"I remember that you whispered in my ear that I needed to stay around because," He licked his lips and looked down at her, "That we were adding another Tyler-Smith to the family. Is this true?"

"Arthur confirmed it. I'm 6-8 weeks gone, and perfectly healthy." She gave him the brightest smile. He wrapped her in a tight hug.

When he let go she looked up at him, "You're not upset? I know we had not talked about any more."

He laid a finger on her lips to quiet her, "How could I NOT be happy? Sure it wasn't planned but the best adventures we have had were not planned." He let go of her, but kept a firm grip on her hand. "Besides what is one more to the craziness we already have."

* * *

The weather had cleared up in the past couple days. It was cool, and a little windy, but a nice fall day. Neither of them wanted to rush back to the estate. With all that had happened in the past few days it made for a nice change just to be alone walking together, hand in hand.

As they walked past a play park Rose stopped and looked at the children playing. "How are we going to explain all this to my folks? They were only to look after James and Verity for three days."

"I think once you manage to get the words 'new grandchild' out I don't think Jackie will care." The Doctor squeezed her hand, to get her to smile.

"I think that might do it." Rose laughed slightly but then led him over to a park bench under a tree, "Are you sure you are alright," she looked him in the eye, "With everything?"

He looked away but came back to her. He didn't want to lie to her but he didn't want to burden her either. A part of him felt like he had been smacked in the back of the head. If there was one person in the universe that he could lay his burden on it was Rose. "With the baby, yeah, I'm fine. Just…" He licked his lips, "Same fears every father has hearing he is going to be father again. As for the other," He sighed and looked away, "It's just another reminder I'm not invincible, as much as I think I am."

"I plan on spending the rest of your life with you, and I want it to be a long one." She said it in a joking tone, but her eyes told him how serious she was.

He wrapped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. "I promise it will be a long one." He murmured into her hair.

Rose and the Doctor had met u

* * *

p with the rest of team back at the manor, but they didn't stay long. They grabbed what little of theirs was still there, and left quickly. Arthur jokingly grumbled that they were leaving him with all the work to do. The Doctor told him, "He was following Doctor's orders and going home." With hugs from Matthew and his wife the two of them made their way back to London.

The two joyous screams that came from the top of the stairs of the Tyler estate was worth the long drive back. Their shouts of "Mummy… Daddy!" made the two of them temporarily forget the past few days. Rose wrapped James in a hug and the Doctor kneeled and hugged little Verity.

"Wondered when you two would show up." Jackie said as she walked into the foyer. "Those two have been driving me nutters wanting to know when you were coming home."

"You missed us did you?" The Doctor teased the children.

"Yes Daddy!" Verity grinned up at him. "Did you bring us back anything?"

"Sorry sweetie," Rose looked down at her two children, "We didn't have time, but I'm sure we find something you will like tomorrow." Rose tried to cheer up her daughter.

"It's ok mum. Grandma took us to the toy store today." James glared at his sister, "I would have liked to have played with my toy a little longer before 'someone' broke it."

"You asked how it worked!" Verity put her hands on her hips ready for a verbal battle.

"Easy, you two." The Doctor kneeled down in front of them, "Actually your mum forgot one," He looked up at Rose with a grin. "Souvenir we brought back with us." He looked back to the children, "Of course it won't be here for another 8 months or so."

"Ah…" both kids fussed. "Come on Ver lets go see what Grandpa is up to." Both kids took off toward Pete's study.

Jackie laughed at the two children as they ran away. "Those two have so much energy." She then turned to her daughter and son-in-law. "I hope you don't mind me taking them to the toy store."

"It's alright mum." Rose hugged her mum, "Grand parents are suppose to spoil their grand kids."

"Pete said your mission went badly but looking at the two of you." She shook her head, "You look positively happy, what happened?"

"We got a wonderful surprise. That's all." The Doctor could keep the smile off his face. Rose just blushed.

"No matter." Jackie started to head toward the dinning room, "Dinner will be ready soon, and you can tell us about that gift that you got the kids."

Soon as she was fully into the room, both Rose and the Doctor broke down laughing.

A couple moments later Jackie stuck her head back into the foyer. "Wait," Jackie looked back and forth between the pair of them. "Did you just tell them…"

"Their 'gift' will be here in 8 months?" Rose asked. Jackie nodded, confused. "Yes." Rose's smile got wider.

Jackie let out a shrieking squeal as she wrapped her daughter in a huge hug, and then kissed the Doctor's cheek.

"What is all this racket?" Pete asked as he came out of the study with Verity on his back, and James peaking out behind him.

The Doctor was rubbing his ear, "I'd say it's either a banshee loose or, just Jackie Tyler celebrating."

"Celebrating what?" Pete came over to him and handed Verity to him.

"Another wonderful adventure." The Doctor smiled up at his daughter.

* * *

Author's Note: So what do you think? Ok, wasn't as spooky as I thought it would be but I think it was fun. I hope everyone liked it.


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